It's a picture of the picture, but you get the idea....little girl is getting all grown up (at least according to her!)
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Big girl now
Carrie couldn't be happier that last night was her pre-k "graduation." I, on the other hand, couldn't hide anything from this little girl. On the way to dinner with some of her classmates to celebrate, she yells at me from the back seat "hey mommy! were you crying during the performance? Cause I saw you rubbing your eyes!?'
It's a picture of the picture, but you get the idea....little girl is getting all grown up (at least according to her!)
It's a picture of the picture, but you get the idea....little girl is getting all grown up (at least according to her!)
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Feeling blessed
I know that's a phrase that people like to throw around a lot these days, but it's truly how I am feeling lately. I don't know if it's because Carrie just turned five or what, but I've been spending a lot of time lately thinking about the family that Jerry and I have created, and just how perfect it really is. Goodness knows I wasn't planning on having a third baby, but I cannot fathom life without my little boy. God knew I needed to have Jacob in my life, and I am so very thankful for that. That's not to say it hasn't be hard, because it has. VERY hard! There were a lot of days immediately following when he was born and while I was on maternity leave that I felt so utterly overwhelmed I didn't know which end was up. There are still days of course that I feel like that (seems to be when Jerry travels!), but for whatever reason (and I do think it has a lot to do with Carrie turning five - I don't know why but that just seems like such a big milestone) I've been trying to be better about slowing down and not being so worried about having all the laundry done or the house just so and just enjoying my kids at this age. This is HUGE for me. I'm sure when Jerry reads this he'll be thinking "Really? You feel that way? Cause I'm pretty sure you stayed up too late the other night folding clothes/washing bottles/picking up tiny pieces of toys scattered about/fill in the blank."
I am finally realizing that they aren't going to be little forever. One day they will pack up and move away to go to college, and the days of them depending completely on me and Jerry will be over. Jerry and I always joke about what we'd be doing if we didn't have three little ones to take care of. The running joke right now is that instead of getting a trip to Italy for our 10 year anniversary this year, we got Jacob :) And while I'd obviously love to go spend a couple of weeks drowning myself in Italian wine, I'm good with what will hopefully be a nice dinner out and coming home to the munchkins. Besides, Carrie keeps begging us to take her to Paris, so who knows? ;) That would be quite appropriate for our 10 year celebration since that's where we had our first date....but somehow I don't think taking a 5 year old, a 3 year old, and an almost 1 year old to France sounds relaxing.
I don't think it was luck that brought Jerry and I together and resulted in this amazing group of people that is our family. Someone had a hand in getting us together so we could go through life together and bring into the world one very precocious girl, one very high spirited girl and one very happy little boy. I thank God every day that this is my life. Now, if someone could remind me of this when I next start to flip out a little when Jerry's traveling or the pile of laundry rivals Mt. Everest, that would be great :)
I am finally realizing that they aren't going to be little forever. One day they will pack up and move away to go to college, and the days of them depending completely on me and Jerry will be over. Jerry and I always joke about what we'd be doing if we didn't have three little ones to take care of. The running joke right now is that instead of getting a trip to Italy for our 10 year anniversary this year, we got Jacob :) And while I'd obviously love to go spend a couple of weeks drowning myself in Italian wine, I'm good with what will hopefully be a nice dinner out and coming home to the munchkins. Besides, Carrie keeps begging us to take her to Paris, so who knows? ;) That would be quite appropriate for our 10 year celebration since that's where we had our first date....but somehow I don't think taking a 5 year old, a 3 year old, and an almost 1 year old to France sounds relaxing.
I don't think it was luck that brought Jerry and I together and resulted in this amazing group of people that is our family. Someone had a hand in getting us together so we could go through life together and bring into the world one very precocious girl, one very high spirited girl and one very happy little boy. I thank God every day that this is my life. Now, if someone could remind me of this when I next start to flip out a little when Jerry's traveling or the pile of laundry rivals Mt. Everest, that would be great :)
The entire family and godparents at Jacob & Isla's Baptism, 4/29/12
Carrie, Ashton, & Anna
Monday, February 6, 2012
One month in....
Yes, it's been awhile, but it has been a bit hectic here in the lowcountry. I absolutely cannot believe we are already one month in to being a family of FIVE. Here's the newest member of the Reeves family just a few hours after he was born exactly one month ago:
Jacob Thomas Reeves joined our family at 9:44am on 1/6/12 weighing 7 lbs 14 oz and measuring in at 19.75 inches long. This kid has been through a lot so far in his short 4 weeks with us....we spent only two days in the hospital as we were eager to get home and get at least some rest. He met his sisters in the hospital and they were absolutely in love with him from the very first time they met. Of course, he's not mobile yet so they are still in love with him...just wait till he starts screwing around with their toys.
Starting around 6 days old, he started sleeping at night. And not just short little bursts. Like 7-8 hours at a time. It was HEAVEN. As my mom said, it was making my transition to having another infant in the house much easier. I was honestly afraid to tell anyone how he was sleeping for fear that it would stop. He kept it up until last Friday, at which point he started getting snotty. I expected this would happen, but it just kept getting worse and worse. I took him in to the doctor on Monday afternoon, at which point the pediatrician told me he had RSV. I vaguely knew what this was, then did what you shouldn't do and googled it and within minutes was convinced my child was going to get pneumonia and die. I kept having horrible flashbacks of watching Anna get a spinal tap at his age when she got sick as a baby. I spent the next 48 hours a complete basketcase, which wasn't made any better when I had to take him back on Tuesday and was sent home with a nebulizer and two different medicines we had to give him every 2-3 hours. Jerry and I took him back to the pediatrician Wednesday morning, where it was determined Jacob had improved, but not as much as they would have liked, so we were told we needed to take him to the children's hospital in Savannah and we'd be spending 2-3 days there. I packed a bag for the both of us and we headed in. When we arrived one of the first things they did was the actually RSV test...which came back negative. Really?!? And we didn't do this at the pediatrician's office WHY? Moral of the story - if the pediatrician wants to have your child admitted to a hospital because of some virus or something, ask if there's a test that they need to run first to determine whether or not your child actually has that virus. It will save you a lot of stress.
So here's the little man on his one month birthday:
He had his first real smile on Saturday while playing with Anna. She kept holding up a Winnie the Pooh to him and talking to him about it and he smiled. At first I thought it was him having gas :) But then she did it again and he smiled again, and I thought I was going to melt.
Like I said, I still have a hard time believing we are a family of five. It's no secret that Jacob wasn't exactly a planned baby. Now I think of him as the baby I never realized I wanted until I had him. I cannot imagine life without him. I am convinced that there is a larger reason as to why I had this little man brought into my life. We thought we were done after Anna, but we ended up with a surprise. He fought through adversity while he was in the womb to make it out healthy, and he keeps fighting. Before I thought our family was complete; now I know we are complete. It's freaking hard with three kids, there's no doubt about that. And I get totally frustrated sometimes when I think about how close we were to being out of diapers and the girls being a tad more self-sufficient. But having Jacob in our lives makes all of us better I think, and I can't wait to see what life has in store for him.
Starting around 6 days old, he started sleeping at night. And not just short little bursts. Like 7-8 hours at a time. It was HEAVEN. As my mom said, it was making my transition to having another infant in the house much easier. I was honestly afraid to tell anyone how he was sleeping for fear that it would stop. He kept it up until last Friday, at which point he started getting snotty. I expected this would happen, but it just kept getting worse and worse. I took him in to the doctor on Monday afternoon, at which point the pediatrician told me he had RSV. I vaguely knew what this was, then did what you shouldn't do and googled it and within minutes was convinced my child was going to get pneumonia and die. I kept having horrible flashbacks of watching Anna get a spinal tap at his age when she got sick as a baby. I spent the next 48 hours a complete basketcase, which wasn't made any better when I had to take him back on Tuesday and was sent home with a nebulizer and two different medicines we had to give him every 2-3 hours. Jerry and I took him back to the pediatrician Wednesday morning, where it was determined Jacob had improved, but not as much as they would have liked, so we were told we needed to take him to the children's hospital in Savannah and we'd be spending 2-3 days there. I packed a bag for the both of us and we headed in. When we arrived one of the first things they did was the actually RSV test...which came back negative. Really?!? And we didn't do this at the pediatrician's office WHY? Moral of the story - if the pediatrician wants to have your child admitted to a hospital because of some virus or something, ask if there's a test that they need to run first to determine whether or not your child actually has that virus. It will save you a lot of stress.
So here's the little man on his one month birthday:
Like I said, I still have a hard time believing we are a family of five. It's no secret that Jacob wasn't exactly a planned baby. Now I think of him as the baby I never realized I wanted until I had him. I cannot imagine life without him. I am convinced that there is a larger reason as to why I had this little man brought into my life. We thought we were done after Anna, but we ended up with a surprise. He fought through adversity while he was in the womb to make it out healthy, and he keeps fighting. Before I thought our family was complete; now I know we are complete. It's freaking hard with three kids, there's no doubt about that. And I get totally frustrated sometimes when I think about how close we were to being out of diapers and the girls being a tad more self-sufficient. But having Jacob in our lives makes all of us better I think, and I can't wait to see what life has in store for him.
Friday, December 9, 2011
Nine Years (and four weeks)
I can hardly believe it's been nine years since Jerry and I got married. We had a funny start to our relationship as many of you know. I mean, who has to go to the other side of the world to meet their significant other, even though we'd been on the exact same college campus for 3 years and had never run into each other (well, maybe we had, but we never knew it). Whenever anyone asks us how we met, Jerry LOVES to tell the story of how he saw me in Hartsfield Atlanta Airport (at least, that's what it was named back when we did study abroad), then started asking my sorority sisters that I was traveling with about me until he finally worked up the courage to come say something to me. He called me by name and since I knew I had never talked to him in my life, and me being the cynic that I am, immediately responded "How in the hell do you know my name?" Good way to start off a relationship, right?
Thankfully he continued talking to me, we hung out in Berlin, then I saved a seat on the bus for him when we were riding from Berlin to Dresden. That's right - I was almost a senior in college, and here I am saving a freaking seat on a bus for him. Whatever, it obviously worked, right?
Our first date was in Paris and the rest is, as they say, history. I've always told him it was a mistake to have our first date in Paris because, really, how do you top that?? But he has...he's been the most amazing husband and father I could have ever asked for. We've been through so much in the past 13 years we've been together.....
So Whizzy & Pop Pop, thanks for raising an incredible son for me to get to marry :) He still does some things that drive me over the edge (is it REALLY so hard to call and let me know if you are going to be late, cause that goes over much better than saying you are leaving at a certain time, then when it's well past the time you should have already been home and I have dinner waiting, then you call to say you are just now leaving....not that that particular scenario happens EVER or anything!), but I know just how lucky I am to have snagged him :)
And today marks, at max, four more weeks before we are a family of FIVE. I started washing Jack-Jack's clothes last night, and it suddenly hit me how real this is all becoming. Not that it hasn't been real with all of the ridiculous pregnancy issues I've had this time around, but organizing and washing up the tiny 0-3 month clothes again for the third time around hit me like a ton of bricks last night!
Thankfully he continued talking to me, we hung out in Berlin, then I saved a seat on the bus for him when we were riding from Berlin to Dresden. That's right - I was almost a senior in college, and here I am saving a freaking seat on a bus for him. Whatever, it obviously worked, right?
Our first date was in Paris and the rest is, as they say, history. I've always told him it was a mistake to have our first date in Paris because, really, how do you top that?? But he has...he's been the most amazing husband and father I could have ever asked for. We've been through so much in the past 13 years we've been together.....
- 5 moves (dear Lord, really?!?)
- 2 little girls
- 1 little boy on the way
- a Crohn's diagnosis
- two bad Crohn's surgeries
- two long distance years
- a dog (who is currently on my bad list for developing a taste for eating gross stuff out of the garbage....I think he's got an attitude about the impending baby too).
- Two jobs for him, four for me (I hope that doesn't sound as bad for me as it looks)
So Whizzy & Pop Pop, thanks for raising an incredible son for me to get to marry :) He still does some things that drive me over the edge (is it REALLY so hard to call and let me know if you are going to be late, cause that goes over much better than saying you are leaving at a certain time, then when it's well past the time you should have already been home and I have dinner waiting, then you call to say you are just now leaving....not that that particular scenario happens EVER or anything!), but I know just how lucky I am to have snagged him :)
And today marks, at max, four more weeks before we are a family of FIVE. I started washing Jack-Jack's clothes last night, and it suddenly hit me how real this is all becoming. Not that it hasn't been real with all of the ridiculous pregnancy issues I've had this time around, but organizing and washing up the tiny 0-3 month clothes again for the third time around hit me like a ton of bricks last night!
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Five weeks and counting
So if Jack-Jack stays put until his predetermined arrival date, then I have exactly 5 weeks from this Friday to get ready for the little guy. (No, his name is not going to be Jack, or even Jack-Jack....it's the name the girls have come up with based on the movie The Incredibles, where the baby boy in that movie is named Jack-Jack. I've said throughout this whole pregnancy that it's not going to matter what we name this poor child, he will always be Jack-Jack to the girls....and probably me too!) And that's a big if too - we all know Anna decided she needed to arrive three weeks early, which would make Jack-Jack a Christmas baby (well, close to Christmas, at least).
I've never had a panic attack, or at least I don't think I have, but I sure feel like having one right now. There's a lot to do....get the nursery ready, wash clothes, pack my bag, get the house in order since it probably will never be in order again for the next 18 years, and then there are the holidays in the midst of all of this. The girls are acting like wild Indians, and I know it's because of Jack-Jack's impending arrival, even if they can't verbalize that's why they have lost their minds. I have to come up with a contingency plan in case this kid does come early and we're in the hospital for Christmas eve/Christmas (Lady & Whizzy - be expecting an email from Santa soon on where he'll be hiding the gifts in our house in case Jerry and I aren't there!!)
And this whole being pregnant while 35 thing? It's for the birds. I can't imagine being any older and doing this, cause I already feel like I'm falling apart. I mean, I usually am having some sort of health issue anyways, but this is topping the cake. Between the original issue of the SCH, sciatica, horrible carpal tunnel in my right hand, and a sinus infection that's been hanging around for SEVEN weeks, I'm done.
I know I am just anxious about life with three little ones, how to make the finances work, and all that entails.....but I really wish I had enough vacation and sick time to just take off work for the next three weeks and have time to get ready and relax for 5 minutes before this baby arrives.
I've never had a panic attack, or at least I don't think I have, but I sure feel like having one right now. There's a lot to do....get the nursery ready, wash clothes, pack my bag, get the house in order since it probably will never be in order again for the next 18 years, and then there are the holidays in the midst of all of this. The girls are acting like wild Indians, and I know it's because of Jack-Jack's impending arrival, even if they can't verbalize that's why they have lost their minds. I have to come up with a contingency plan in case this kid does come early and we're in the hospital for Christmas eve/Christmas (Lady & Whizzy - be expecting an email from Santa soon on where he'll be hiding the gifts in our house in case Jerry and I aren't there!!)
And this whole being pregnant while 35 thing? It's for the birds. I can't imagine being any older and doing this, cause I already feel like I'm falling apart. I mean, I usually am having some sort of health issue anyways, but this is topping the cake. Between the original issue of the SCH, sciatica, horrible carpal tunnel in my right hand, and a sinus infection that's been hanging around for SEVEN weeks, I'm done.
I know I am just anxious about life with three little ones, how to make the finances work, and all that entails.....but I really wish I had enough vacation and sick time to just take off work for the next three weeks and have time to get ready and relax for 5 minutes before this baby arrives.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
I guess I'm "that" mom
But at least I know there's one other mom out there just like me in this case....
Carrie got a permission slip sent home with her a few weeks ago to go on a field trip to a pumpkin patch. It sounded like lots of fun and I was ready to sign her up, until I read how they were going to be traveling to the pumpkin patch. It was by the little school bus they have for their school....which meant only lap belts and not car seats. This immediately made my mommy radar go up and I was like "do they really think I'm going to let my tiny little kid, who at her rate of growth will probably still be in a car seat at 16, get on a school bus with nothing but lap belts?" I hemmed and hawed about this for a few days, and then was talking with one of my friends, Kathy, who's daughter is also in Carrie's class and is Carrie's current BFF. Before I even said anything she echoed my sentiments and felt the same way I did about letting the girls ride in a school bus with only lap belts. Thankfully she has a work schedule that's much more flexible than mine and was able to volunteer to drive two children (mine and hers!) to the field trip. Crisis averted - Carrie got to go on the field trip and I didn't have to be the mean mommy and not let her go because I didn't feel comfortable letting her ride in the bus.
I know thousands of kids do the school bus thing every single day going to and from school, including kids not much bigger than mine. Maybe I'm just a giant worry wart, but I'm okay with that :) I only have one Carrie!! I guess that's another bonus to having her and Anna (and eventually baby boy) going to the school that they do - no school bus service since it's private, so her only option is to ride in a car seat in our car :)
Carrie got a permission slip sent home with her a few weeks ago to go on a field trip to a pumpkin patch. It sounded like lots of fun and I was ready to sign her up, until I read how they were going to be traveling to the pumpkin patch. It was by the little school bus they have for their school....which meant only lap belts and not car seats. This immediately made my mommy radar go up and I was like "do they really think I'm going to let my tiny little kid, who at her rate of growth will probably still be in a car seat at 16, get on a school bus with nothing but lap belts?" I hemmed and hawed about this for a few days, and then was talking with one of my friends, Kathy, who's daughter is also in Carrie's class and is Carrie's current BFF. Before I even said anything she echoed my sentiments and felt the same way I did about letting the girls ride in a school bus with only lap belts. Thankfully she has a work schedule that's much more flexible than mine and was able to volunteer to drive two children (mine and hers!) to the field trip. Crisis averted - Carrie got to go on the field trip and I didn't have to be the mean mommy and not let her go because I didn't feel comfortable letting her ride in the bus.
I know thousands of kids do the school bus thing every single day going to and from school, including kids not much bigger than mine. Maybe I'm just a giant worry wart, but I'm okay with that :) I only have one Carrie!! I guess that's another bonus to having her and Anna (and eventually baby boy) going to the school that they do - no school bus service since it's private, so her only option is to ride in a car seat in our car :)
Monday, October 10, 2011
So....
I'm sure many of you have heard that old saying "Make plans and God laughs"??? Well, that seems pretty indicative of my life thus far this year.
I "planned" to get back into running and do a half-marathon this coming November at the inaugural Savannah Rock n' Roll marathon event. Instead, I ended up having surgery on my knee, promptly bringing any and all thoughts of getting back into running out of my mind for good.
I "planned" on getting Anna potty trained and out of diapers this year, never to buy another package of diapers ever again in my life, unless it was for someone else.
WRONG.
Instead, I sit here writing this at 26.5 weeks pregnant. Wha??? This was not in my life plan, having a third child. We were getting so close to no diapers, getting out of the terrible twos (although from Carrie's recent behavior it seems that the age of 4 is more terrifying), and fully moving on from the baby stage of raising kids.
To say I was surprised to find out we were having a third is the understatement of the century. I mean, the irony here is undeniable: I had to go through hell and high water with fertility treatments to get pregnant with Carrie (thankfully not having to go all the way to IVF, but we were certainly researching it), to managing to be apparently one of the 1% of the population that manages to get pregnant while on the pill (word to the wise, ladies - it DOES happen!). Seriously?
When I went to my first prenatal appointment I met with the nurse practitioner, standard procedure for the first appt in a pregnancy (at least at my practice). She came in at about 28 weeks pregnant herself, with the exact same story as me - was perfectly fine with her two little girls, not planning on having another, and then BAM! Guess what?!? She and I both could hear God laughing at both of us at that point. It didn't ease all of my apprehensions about adding a third little person to our family, but it certainly helped. I remember her saying to me "it'll all work out somehow! and just maybe this will be a boy for you like it is for me!"
About the time I started getting somewhat more comfortable with the idea of having another munchkin running around I started having some problems. Guess that comes with the territory of being of "advanced maternal age." As it turns out I had a subchorionic hematoma. Let me save you some time - DON'T GOOGLE IT; you will come away from it, as you do if you google pretty much any medical condition, convinced that everyone involved was going to DIE. That's not to minimize it, cause it was disconcerting and upsetting, but it managed to resolve itself by the time I was about 21 weeks along (hence why I have not, up to this point, mentioned anything about this pregnancy on my blog!) Thankfully, as of my last ultrasound scan, there was no sign of the stupid hematoma, and that's after literally about an hour of both the ultrasound tech and the high risk doc looking in every nook and cranny to make sure it wasn't hiding anywhere.
So now I feel like I've really settled into the idea of having three kids. I am under no pretense that it's gonna be easy or anything like that. I know that our lives are going to be thrown upside down yet again. I know that it's going to, yet again, be a giant pain in the butt trying to figure out do we do nanny vs. daycare for this kid. I'm not looking forward to having to get up multiple times in the middle of the night to nurse, or get up at the crack of dawn before going to work so I can pump enough for the baby to have each day. But I also know that once I get to hold that little baby in my arms in about 12 short weeks (as long as he stays in there until he's supposed to come out, on or about 1/6/12!!), that it will all be worth it and somehow, someway, in the immortal words of Tim Gunn, we'll "make it work."
Oh, and the crazy part? This time we elected to find out the gender of the baby. And when I say "we" I actually mean "I" and I convinced Jerry that for my own mental health I needed to know if it was going to be a girl or a boy.
As it turns out, the nurse practitioner was right - it is a boy this time around. :)
I "planned" to get back into running and do a half-marathon this coming November at the inaugural Savannah Rock n' Roll marathon event. Instead, I ended up having surgery on my knee, promptly bringing any and all thoughts of getting back into running out of my mind for good.
I "planned" on getting Anna potty trained and out of diapers this year, never to buy another package of diapers ever again in my life, unless it was for someone else.
WRONG.
Instead, I sit here writing this at 26.5 weeks pregnant. Wha??? This was not in my life plan, having a third child. We were getting so close to no diapers, getting out of the terrible twos (although from Carrie's recent behavior it seems that the age of 4 is more terrifying), and fully moving on from the baby stage of raising kids.
To say I was surprised to find out we were having a third is the understatement of the century. I mean, the irony here is undeniable: I had to go through hell and high water with fertility treatments to get pregnant with Carrie (thankfully not having to go all the way to IVF, but we were certainly researching it), to managing to be apparently one of the 1% of the population that manages to get pregnant while on the pill (word to the wise, ladies - it DOES happen!). Seriously?
When I went to my first prenatal appointment I met with the nurse practitioner, standard procedure for the first appt in a pregnancy (at least at my practice). She came in at about 28 weeks pregnant herself, with the exact same story as me - was perfectly fine with her two little girls, not planning on having another, and then BAM! Guess what?!? She and I both could hear God laughing at both of us at that point. It didn't ease all of my apprehensions about adding a third little person to our family, but it certainly helped. I remember her saying to me "it'll all work out somehow! and just maybe this will be a boy for you like it is for me!"
About the time I started getting somewhat more comfortable with the idea of having another munchkin running around I started having some problems. Guess that comes with the territory of being of "advanced maternal age." As it turns out I had a subchorionic hematoma. Let me save you some time - DON'T GOOGLE IT; you will come away from it, as you do if you google pretty much any medical condition, convinced that everyone involved was going to DIE. That's not to minimize it, cause it was disconcerting and upsetting, but it managed to resolve itself by the time I was about 21 weeks along (hence why I have not, up to this point, mentioned anything about this pregnancy on my blog!) Thankfully, as of my last ultrasound scan, there was no sign of the stupid hematoma, and that's after literally about an hour of both the ultrasound tech and the high risk doc looking in every nook and cranny to make sure it wasn't hiding anywhere.
So now I feel like I've really settled into the idea of having three kids. I am under no pretense that it's gonna be easy or anything like that. I know that our lives are going to be thrown upside down yet again. I know that it's going to, yet again, be a giant pain in the butt trying to figure out do we do nanny vs. daycare for this kid. I'm not looking forward to having to get up multiple times in the middle of the night to nurse, or get up at the crack of dawn before going to work so I can pump enough for the baby to have each day. But I also know that once I get to hold that little baby in my arms in about 12 short weeks (as long as he stays in there until he's supposed to come out, on or about 1/6/12!!), that it will all be worth it and somehow, someway, in the immortal words of Tim Gunn, we'll "make it work."
Oh, and the crazy part? This time we elected to find out the gender of the baby. And when I say "we" I actually mean "I" and I convinced Jerry that for my own mental health I needed to know if it was going to be a girl or a boy.
As it turns out, the nurse practitioner was right - it is a boy this time around. :)
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Our big girls
I know, I know...it's been forever. What can I say? Lots going on, as usual!
This has been a huge week in the Reeves' household. Two big milestones. First was Carrie's first day of Pre-K on Monday. She had been going to her new "big girl" class for a week, but without the curriculum and without the uniform. Monday was the first day of at least the uniform ("official curriculum" doesn't start for another week, but you could have fooled me!). Here's a picture of the newest member of pre-K:
I can't get over how freaking grown up she looks. Boo. And here's the rest of her class as well:
Love that they have such small class sizes compared to some other schools! What's crazy about this class is how calm it is.....Anna gets dropped off first, and of course the 2 year old class is chaotic at best. But even Carrie's old classroom, which had pretty much the same children in it, was nuttiness at times. This class, not so much. You go in at any point in time, morning or afternoon, and they are CALM. I don't know how her teacher does it. Benadryl, maybe? I kid. But seriously, another mom and I were talking about this the other day. Just two weeks ago they were running around like wild banshees, and now they are acting like they know what they are supposed to be doing in the classroom setting. It's amazing. Too bad that doesn't carry over to the home environment, where Carrie seems to forget how to use her ears!!
Anna turned two as well, and we had her birthday party over the weekend. I still can't believe she's two!! I don't know why - she certainly has the attitude to go with her age :) I think she tries to overcompensate to be sure to be heard over her big sister. We had cupcakes in her classroom on her birthday to celebrate the big day, and they were a big hit:
The birthday party was great fun, and it was nice to see my family from Atlanta who made the trip. Today we had to take both girls in to get them up to date on their vaccines. Never a good trip. Carrie knew what was coming, and she had to get two vaccines. Anna only had to get one. Both girls were unhappy to say the least, but the tears magically disappeared when the stickers came out. Turns out Anna has grown three inches since her last visit in March. I knew she was hitting a growth spurt, but good grief! I told the doc that at this rate there's a very good chance we'll end up passing on hand-me-ups instead of hand-me-downs between her and Carrie!
This has been a huge week in the Reeves' household. Two big milestones. First was Carrie's first day of Pre-K on Monday. She had been going to her new "big girl" class for a week, but without the curriculum and without the uniform. Monday was the first day of at least the uniform ("official curriculum" doesn't start for another week, but you could have fooled me!). Here's a picture of the newest member of pre-K:
I can't get over how freaking grown up she looks. Boo. And here's the rest of her class as well:
Love that they have such small class sizes compared to some other schools! What's crazy about this class is how calm it is.....Anna gets dropped off first, and of course the 2 year old class is chaotic at best. But even Carrie's old classroom, which had pretty much the same children in it, was nuttiness at times. This class, not so much. You go in at any point in time, morning or afternoon, and they are CALM. I don't know how her teacher does it. Benadryl, maybe? I kid. But seriously, another mom and I were talking about this the other day. Just two weeks ago they were running around like wild banshees, and now they are acting like they know what they are supposed to be doing in the classroom setting. It's amazing. Too bad that doesn't carry over to the home environment, where Carrie seems to forget how to use her ears!!
Anna turned two as well, and we had her birthday party over the weekend. I still can't believe she's two!! I don't know why - she certainly has the attitude to go with her age :) I think she tries to overcompensate to be sure to be heard over her big sister. We had cupcakes in her classroom on her birthday to celebrate the big day, and they were a big hit:
The birthday party was great fun, and it was nice to see my family from Atlanta who made the trip. Today we had to take both girls in to get them up to date on their vaccines. Never a good trip. Carrie knew what was coming, and she had to get two vaccines. Anna only had to get one. Both girls were unhappy to say the least, but the tears magically disappeared when the stickers came out. Turns out Anna has grown three inches since her last visit in March. I knew she was hitting a growth spurt, but good grief! I told the doc that at this rate there's a very good chance we'll end up passing on hand-me-ups instead of hand-me-downs between her and Carrie!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Hug your kids tight
I think I'm in a bit of shock right now. I just learned that a co-worker's 2 year old grandson drowned last Friday in the family pool. This just absolutely breaks my heart. My co-worker used to tell me all sorts of stories about his grandchildren, and how this particular little one kept getting into so much mischief because, after all, he was a 2 year old boy and mischief is in his job description, right? He was so proud to talk about his grandchildren and it was easy to see how much he loved them.
My heart breaks for his family. It also makes me realize how quickly loved ones can leave us. Give your kids (or any other family member/friend, for that matter) an extra squeeze tonight at bedtime.
My heart breaks for his family. It also makes me realize how quickly loved ones can leave us. Give your kids (or any other family member/friend, for that matter) an extra squeeze tonight at bedtime.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
What the.....?!
I either should have paid more attention in my developmental psych class, or taken more of them, so I would know when to expect certain things to come out of my childrens' mouths and know when they can make certain connections. We were sitting at the dinner table last night and I had forgotten to turn off the TV, which we usually do. The nightly news was on, and a story came on about Glen Campbell, who was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. The anchor was delivering the story and mentioned something about the fact that Glen had been noticing he had short term memory loss for awhile, but that the Alzheimer's diagnosis had been in the last six months.
I kid you not - Carrie stops mid-chew and exclaims "Short term memory loss!!! That's what Dory has in Finding Nemo!!"
I texted Jerry to tell him what had just happened (he was at a business dinner...at Lady & Sons....which I have been begging to go to since we moved here.....but that's another story). He called me back and thought I was making it up. No, m'dear, not making it up. Can't make this kind of stuff up!
Huh?
How do they remember stuff like that? Especially since I can't really remember the last time we watched that movie, as everything is all Princess, all the time right now.
I kid you not - Carrie stops mid-chew and exclaims "Short term memory loss!!! That's what Dory has in Finding Nemo!!"
I texted Jerry to tell him what had just happened (he was at a business dinner...at Lady & Sons....which I have been begging to go to since we moved here.....but that's another story). He called me back and thought I was making it up. No, m'dear, not making it up. Can't make this kind of stuff up!
Huh?
How do they remember stuff like that? Especially since I can't really remember the last time we watched that movie, as everything is all Princess, all the time right now.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Complete Photo Gallery!
Kate emailed me last night to let me know all of our family pics are up!! Here they are if you are interested....
I've said it before and I'll say it again - Kate is a great photographer and I love that she's now done pictures for us 4 times. She's soon moving to Atlanta, but perhaps I can convince her to do some shots of us whenever we come up to visit family!
I've said it before and I'll say it again - Kate is a great photographer and I love that she's now done pictures for us 4 times. She's soon moving to Atlanta, but perhaps I can convince her to do some shots of us whenever we come up to visit family!
Monday, June 13, 2011
Family Pictures
It's always LOADS of fun getting everyone ready for family photo shoots. It generally involves someone pitching a fit, clothes not looking right, and overall confusion (and not necessarily all from the children!). We had our pics taken this past weekend with Kate Carmack, who's been taking pictures of Carrie since before she turned 1. I am always happy with her work - she is an amazingly talented young lady, and I hope she'll keep coming back to the Lowcountry once she moves to the big city at least once a year so she can chronicle our little family growing up.
She's posted a new picture of the fam on her blog:
There's also a couple of pictures of the girls sprinkled into her home page slideshow (and one of Anna from last year, so that's entertaining!). You can view the slideshow here.
I'll be sure to post when all of our pictures are available!
She's posted a new picture of the fam on her blog:
There's also a couple of pictures of the girls sprinkled into her home page slideshow (and one of Anna from last year, so that's entertaining!). You can view the slideshow here.
I'll be sure to post when all of our pictures are available!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Dear Beaumont
Dear Beaumont,
It's so very hard for us, but today we had to say goodbye to you. There aren't really words to say just how much you were loved, and still are, but I'll try....
It all started when Jerry decided that getting a dog while a freshman in college was a GREAT idea! I don't know all the details since I hadn't yet met him, but I know he had the best of intentions (as well as a goal to meet more girls while hanging out with you at the park!). I'm also sure that this idea was probably met with some groans of "what the heck are you going to do with a lab puppy while at school?" but he went ahead with his plans anyways, and made the adoption that would change the Reeves family....for the better, I might add.
I'm not sure exactly how long you lived in Atlanta, but thankfully Whizzy & Pop Pop took you in at Cedar Bluff. The big city was no place for a dog like you, Beau. You needed a place to run and play, and Cedar Bluff was just the place. Tons of room to run, your very own river to swim in - what more could a pup want?! I know Jerry was sad to leave you behind at Cedar Bluff, but it was the right thing to do, and you have been there ever since.
You weren't too sure about me at first, buddy. Jerry and I joke about it now, but I really do think you thought I was trying to take your spot, literally. You were so used to Jerry sleeping in his own bed at home, so whenever I came to visit and slept in that bed, you would just sort of stand beside it for a few minutes like "Look lady - I think you got the wrong place. That's my bed with my dad; beat it!" Thankfully I think I grew on you, and you realized I was pretty good with the belly rubs and throwing the tennis ball for you too.
Your love of tennis balls is legendary. We even brought our dog, Bailey, to Cedar Bluff so you could hopefully teach him a thing or two about playing catch. I'll never forget watching you and Bailey race around for the tennis ball whenever we'd throw it. Bailey didn't have a prayer those first few years of catching you - you would outrun him every single time. I think it was good for Bailey to get schooled a little bit! To this day, even though you couldn't run around much lately to catch the ball, you seemed to have one nearby at all times. It's sort of like your security blanket I guess.
One of my own fondest memories of you was when I was training for the marathon. We were visiting Cedar Bluff one weekend, and I was scheduled to do a 13 mile run, so Jerry and I took you along and thought we'd let you go as long as you wanted, then Jerry would take you back. Jerry was on his bike and I was just pounding pavement....and there you were, running right beside me the entire time. There were several times that Jerry would bike farther up the road, and even sometimes disappear, but you stayed right there with me the whole time, like you were taking care of me. You did 8 miles with me that day. I sort of think of that as the "turning point" in our relationship, Beau. I like to think that was your way of saying "Well, okay, if you're gonna be sticking around for awhile, I guess I'll hang out with you."
Our girls really love you, that's for sure. Whenever we were over visiting, they loved coming up to you and laying on your belly and scratching your ears, which you took in stride. To be such a big dog, you sure were a gentle giant.
Even though you haven't been able to move around too much lately, the other pups at Cedar Bluff still recognize you as the alpha dog. Tucker would try to steal the ball from you sometimes, but we always tried to sneak another ball to you when he wasn't looking....
Beaumont, I know you lived an incredibly long life, but it's still incredibly hard to say goodbye. We know it's time, though. It's not fair to you for us to be selfish. You have been an amazing friend to Jerry, but I promise to take good care of him for you. Know that any dog we ever have will always be compared to you. Goodbye, buddy.
Love,
Kristy
It's so very hard for us, but today we had to say goodbye to you. There aren't really words to say just how much you were loved, and still are, but I'll try....
It all started when Jerry decided that getting a dog while a freshman in college was a GREAT idea! I don't know all the details since I hadn't yet met him, but I know he had the best of intentions (as well as a goal to meet more girls while hanging out with you at the park!). I'm also sure that this idea was probably met with some groans of "what the heck are you going to do with a lab puppy while at school?" but he went ahead with his plans anyways, and made the adoption that would change the Reeves family....for the better, I might add.
I'm not sure exactly how long you lived in Atlanta, but thankfully Whizzy & Pop Pop took you in at Cedar Bluff. The big city was no place for a dog like you, Beau. You needed a place to run and play, and Cedar Bluff was just the place. Tons of room to run, your very own river to swim in - what more could a pup want?! I know Jerry was sad to leave you behind at Cedar Bluff, but it was the right thing to do, and you have been there ever since.
You weren't too sure about me at first, buddy. Jerry and I joke about it now, but I really do think you thought I was trying to take your spot, literally. You were so used to Jerry sleeping in his own bed at home, so whenever I came to visit and slept in that bed, you would just sort of stand beside it for a few minutes like "Look lady - I think you got the wrong place. That's my bed with my dad; beat it!" Thankfully I think I grew on you, and you realized I was pretty good with the belly rubs and throwing the tennis ball for you too.
Your love of tennis balls is legendary. We even brought our dog, Bailey, to Cedar Bluff so you could hopefully teach him a thing or two about playing catch. I'll never forget watching you and Bailey race around for the tennis ball whenever we'd throw it. Bailey didn't have a prayer those first few years of catching you - you would outrun him every single time. I think it was good for Bailey to get schooled a little bit! To this day, even though you couldn't run around much lately to catch the ball, you seemed to have one nearby at all times. It's sort of like your security blanket I guess.
One of my own fondest memories of you was when I was training for the marathon. We were visiting Cedar Bluff one weekend, and I was scheduled to do a 13 mile run, so Jerry and I took you along and thought we'd let you go as long as you wanted, then Jerry would take you back. Jerry was on his bike and I was just pounding pavement....and there you were, running right beside me the entire time. There were several times that Jerry would bike farther up the road, and even sometimes disappear, but you stayed right there with me the whole time, like you were taking care of me. You did 8 miles with me that day. I sort of think of that as the "turning point" in our relationship, Beau. I like to think that was your way of saying "Well, okay, if you're gonna be sticking around for awhile, I guess I'll hang out with you."
Our girls really love you, that's for sure. Whenever we were over visiting, they loved coming up to you and laying on your belly and scratching your ears, which you took in stride. To be such a big dog, you sure were a gentle giant.
Even though you haven't been able to move around too much lately, the other pups at Cedar Bluff still recognize you as the alpha dog. Tucker would try to steal the ball from you sometimes, but we always tried to sneak another ball to you when he wasn't looking....
Beaumont, I know you lived an incredibly long life, but it's still incredibly hard to say goodbye. We know it's time, though. It's not fair to you for us to be selfish. You have been an amazing friend to Jerry, but I promise to take good care of him for you. Know that any dog we ever have will always be compared to you. Goodbye, buddy.
Love,
Kristy
Monday, May 23, 2011
We're all here!
Yes, it's been awhile since I posted.....I went back to work in the office full time last week, so that was an adjustment to say the least. I've been doing the work at home 3 days/week thing since early March, then was at home for two straight weeks after the surgery. While I certainly enjoyed my time away from the office, I have to admit it is nice to have some adult interaction during the day again.
The knee seems to be healing nicely, at least from what I can tell. I am still using my crutches (for the most part!) and using the brace. I go back to the doc on June 1st, and I am really hoping he tells me I can ditch the crutches and just use the brace. PT is going well - my therapist is a good friend, so that makes the torture at bit better.
So things are just moving along as usual in the Reeves' household. I did come across this fun little critter on my way to the grocery store the other day:
You may have to look closely at the photo to see our little gator friend, but let me assure you that he was NOT small....brought 4 cars to a stop on the main drag of our neighborhood as he was ambling slowly across the road. Of course all the stupid humans are snapping pictures as quickly as possible (at least I stayed in my vehicle, unlike the others who were actually getting out of their cars to get a closer look - NO THANK YOU).
Here's another funny picture:
I swear she is a little boy in a girl's body. Besides the fact that she has the scraggliest hair ever seen (or at least since I was growing up, cause she's definitely got my hair), this is the dirtiest kid I've ever seen. You turn your back for five seconds and she's diving in the dirt in the backyard. And utterly happy about it.
The knee seems to be healing nicely, at least from what I can tell. I am still using my crutches (for the most part!) and using the brace. I go back to the doc on June 1st, and I am really hoping he tells me I can ditch the crutches and just use the brace. PT is going well - my therapist is a good friend, so that makes the torture at bit better.
So things are just moving along as usual in the Reeves' household. I did come across this fun little critter on my way to the grocery store the other day:
Here's another funny picture:
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Like New
Well, that's what I am hoping my knee is now - like new. I went in to have my knee surgery on Monday morning, bright and early. We had to be there at 7am, so Whizzy came to stay with the girls that morning to get them off to school (and she managed to get them fed, dressed, and to school by 7:30 that morning...Jerry and I are in awe).
Once we arrived I got all settled in the pre-op area, complete with my IV and then Jerry could come back. He got to meet the doc, who again explained the possible treatments he may do once he got into the surgery. After that we just had to wait a bit, so we looked like total geeks with our phones playing games and Jerry taking pictures of me with my little temperature sticker on my forehead. Eventually they came back and gave me some "I don't care" medicine (their words - not mine!), and it truly made me not give a damn. About 10 minutes afterwards they took me back to the OR, I scooted over to the other bed, and that's the last thing I remember.
Next thing I knew I was waking up being offered some coke. Anesthesia is an amazing thing. They brought Jerry back and he wsa the one that broke the news to me that they did in fact have to do the microfracture procedure. I was reeeealllly hoping they weren't going to have to do that, mainly because it just sounded like it would be painful. There was a pretty significant portion of missing cartilage on my bone (not sure which one, if it's the femur or tibia, but will ask today at my doctor's appointment), so hopefully this surgery will do the trick. Apparently if it doesn't, I'm in for another more involved surgery...but I'm not even going to go down that road yet!
So for the past few days I've just been hanging out on the couch watching trash TV, reading books, cross-stitching....doing stuff I normally don't have much time to do when I'm healthy! I wasn't having too much pain until last night. I think all of the meds finally wore off completely last night and even the percocet wasn't doing a great job of keeping the pain at bay. But I go back to the doc today so perhaps he'll have some more advice on how I can manage it better.
Carrie has been too sweet through all of this. She always wants to bring me my crutches and will come over to me and hug me and say "it's okay, sweetie." I mean, how cute is that?! Anna, on the other hand, is just as silly and crazy as ever...I just have to make sure my knee is out of her path of destruction!
Like I said, I go back to the doctor today for my post-op follow-up. We'll see what he has to say about when I can go back to work, how long I have to use crutches, and all that good stuff!
Once we arrived I got all settled in the pre-op area, complete with my IV and then Jerry could come back. He got to meet the doc, who again explained the possible treatments he may do once he got into the surgery. After that we just had to wait a bit, so we looked like total geeks with our phones playing games and Jerry taking pictures of me with my little temperature sticker on my forehead. Eventually they came back and gave me some "I don't care" medicine (their words - not mine!), and it truly made me not give a damn. About 10 minutes afterwards they took me back to the OR, I scooted over to the other bed, and that's the last thing I remember.
Next thing I knew I was waking up being offered some coke. Anesthesia is an amazing thing. They brought Jerry back and he wsa the one that broke the news to me that they did in fact have to do the microfracture procedure. I was reeeealllly hoping they weren't going to have to do that, mainly because it just sounded like it would be painful. There was a pretty significant portion of missing cartilage on my bone (not sure which one, if it's the femur or tibia, but will ask today at my doctor's appointment), so hopefully this surgery will do the trick. Apparently if it doesn't, I'm in for another more involved surgery...but I'm not even going to go down that road yet!
So for the past few days I've just been hanging out on the couch watching trash TV, reading books, cross-stitching....doing stuff I normally don't have much time to do when I'm healthy! I wasn't having too much pain until last night. I think all of the meds finally wore off completely last night and even the percocet wasn't doing a great job of keeping the pain at bay. But I go back to the doc today so perhaps he'll have some more advice on how I can manage it better.
Carrie has been too sweet through all of this. She always wants to bring me my crutches and will come over to me and hug me and say "it's okay, sweetie." I mean, how cute is that?! Anna, on the other hand, is just as silly and crazy as ever...I just have to make sure my knee is out of her path of destruction!
Like I said, I go back to the doctor today for my post-op follow-up. We'll see what he has to say about when I can go back to work, how long I have to use crutches, and all that good stuff!
Monday, April 25, 2011
Funny Conversation
Me: Carrie, do you know what tomorrow is?
Carrie: Sunday
Me: Yes, but it's a special Sunday.
Carrie: EASTER!
Me: Very good! And what does it mean that it's Easter?
Carrie: EASTER EGGS!
Me: Well, yes, but what else does it mean?
Carrie: Jesus died on the cross.
Me: Yep, but do you know why he did that?
Carrie: Nope. Why?
Me: He did it for our sins
Carrie: Oh. What are sins?
Me: Bad things we do that we may or may not really have meant to do.
Carrie: Oh.
Me: Because he did that, one day we can go live in Heaven.
Carrie: Cool! (then silence.....) But what about our house??
Gotta love the logic of a four-year-old.
Carrie: Sunday
Me: Yes, but it's a special Sunday.
Carrie: EASTER!
Me: Very good! And what does it mean that it's Easter?
Carrie: EASTER EGGS!
Me: Well, yes, but what else does it mean?
Carrie: Jesus died on the cross.
Me: Yep, but do you know why he did that?
Carrie: Nope. Why?
Me: He did it for our sins
Carrie: Oh. What are sins?
Me: Bad things we do that we may or may not really have meant to do.
Carrie: Oh.
Me: Because he did that, one day we can go live in Heaven.
Carrie: Cool! (then silence.....) But what about our house??
Gotta love the logic of a four-year-old.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Plica bands, microfractions and arthroscopic surgery, oh my!
I had my second opinion today. It's not that I didn't like my other doctor, but let's get real - in the same breath he tells me that my plica band will almost definitely need to be taken out due to the pain/swelling....but let's wait ANOTHER 6 weeks before we decide on anything. I realize I'm not usually a patient person anyways, but I've been doing this hobbling thing for 2 months now...not cool when you have two children under the age of 5, a job, and the desire to actually do something other than sit on the couch all day long.
I immediately really liked this doctor. He came highly recommended from the wife of a board member at work who has just had knee replacement surgery, so the guy has to know his knee stuff, right? He came in and immediately put me at ease, looked over my chart, asked me all sorts of questions and torqued my knee in all sorts of directions (um, OUCH.). He took a couple of new x-rays to make sure my alignment was as it should be and that I wasn't causing myself the problem by walking funky (although by now I think I really am walking funky to compensate). Alignment was fine, so he presented me with the three possibilities of what he thinks could be wrong:
1) Plica band - an odd little band in your knee which is apparently a lot like your appendix or spleen. It doesn't really do anything to help you, but if it gets hurt it can cause problems
2) Cartilage problem - he best explained it by likening my bones to an M&M. The hard candy coating shell on the M&M "protects" it, but if there's a chip in it (i.e. chip or missing piece of cartilage on my bones), then that needs to be resolved
3) Nothing - that would suck because then I guess that means the pain is in my head??
Then he presented me with the two options:
1) Brace my leg/knee for a month or so, which may or may not help and he's not entirely sure what he'd be bracing my knee against
2) Surgery. Scope to be exact. If he gets in there and it's the plica, then remove it and I'm looking at a week or so of recovery. If it's the cartilage, then do a procedure called microfracture and everything heals up and I'm looking at another 6 weeks of crutches. If it's nothing, then they stitch up my incisions and I go home, probably with a brace to see if that can help.
I chose option 2, based on his recommendation. After talking it over with him, it does seem like this is the best option. I've tried the wait and see thing for 2 months, with my right knee completely healing and the left one getting worse. We've had MRIs and x-rays, but the problem is with the things that he thinks it may be, they don't show up on those diagnostic tools and the only real way to know what's going on is to get in there and take a peek.
So there you have it - I'm signed up for a diagnostic scope a week from Monday.
Good thing I've got great health insurance.
Oh yeah - and I've already met my deductible for the year, and I imagine I'm pretty damn close to the out of pocket max too.
And it's only April.
I immediately really liked this doctor. He came highly recommended from the wife of a board member at work who has just had knee replacement surgery, so the guy has to know his knee stuff, right? He came in and immediately put me at ease, looked over my chart, asked me all sorts of questions and torqued my knee in all sorts of directions (um, OUCH.). He took a couple of new x-rays to make sure my alignment was as it should be and that I wasn't causing myself the problem by walking funky (although by now I think I really am walking funky to compensate). Alignment was fine, so he presented me with the three possibilities of what he thinks could be wrong:
1) Plica band - an odd little band in your knee which is apparently a lot like your appendix or spleen. It doesn't really do anything to help you, but if it gets hurt it can cause problems
2) Cartilage problem - he best explained it by likening my bones to an M&M. The hard candy coating shell on the M&M "protects" it, but if there's a chip in it (i.e. chip or missing piece of cartilage on my bones), then that needs to be resolved
3) Nothing - that would suck because then I guess that means the pain is in my head??
Then he presented me with the two options:
1) Brace my leg/knee for a month or so, which may or may not help and he's not entirely sure what he'd be bracing my knee against
2) Surgery. Scope to be exact. If he gets in there and it's the plica, then remove it and I'm looking at a week or so of recovery. If it's the cartilage, then do a procedure called microfracture and everything heals up and I'm looking at another 6 weeks of crutches. If it's nothing, then they stitch up my incisions and I go home, probably with a brace to see if that can help.
I chose option 2, based on his recommendation. After talking it over with him, it does seem like this is the best option. I've tried the wait and see thing for 2 months, with my right knee completely healing and the left one getting worse. We've had MRIs and x-rays, but the problem is with the things that he thinks it may be, they don't show up on those diagnostic tools and the only real way to know what's going on is to get in there and take a peek.
So there you have it - I'm signed up for a diagnostic scope a week from Monday.
Good thing I've got great health insurance.
Oh yeah - and I've already met my deductible for the year, and I imagine I'm pretty damn close to the out of pocket max too.
And it's only April.
Monday, April 18, 2011
An Ah-Ha Moment
I promise I will post on Carrie's birthday festivities in a day or so (once I download the pics, which I know will make my mom happy!!), but I've just had this post rolling around in my head since yesterday afternoon now, and I feel like I'm going to explode if I don't get it out.
****MASCARA ALERT********
I had to add that in there for my mom, cause I'm pretty sure it will make her tear up. And I'm not putting this out there to make my mom & dad feel guilty about having to leave yesterday!!
So my mom has been here since last Saturday, and my dad came on Thursday. We had a great week. I know the girls were testing Mom's patience at times (heck, they test mine on a regular basis). Ken showed up on Thursday and we all took Carrie to gymnastics and just had a wonderful time together. Jerry got back into town late Thursday and we spent the weekend getting ready for Carrie's party and enjoying the company of family and friends.
Then after the party on Saturday came the time I knew was coming - I knew Mom would get sad at the idea of having to leave the girls. Carrie didn't help things because Mom was telling her that she had to leave to go back to Atlanta and she said "I love you Lady!" My mom told her she loved her too, then Carrie responds "I love you SO MUCH." That's enough to make anyone get sappy. So both of them are teary-eyed, which made me teary-eyed. It's a domino effect I think.
We got my parents off and headed back north, and all hell broke loose. Anna was clearly tired but thought a nap was optional, and Carrie was still getting upset that Lady and KnowMan had to leave. I knew one of the gifts she received from a friend was the movie Tangled so we broke that out and popped it in the player.
For the rest of the day, she'd be fine then all of a sudden she would bust out in tears saying "I want Lady & KnowMan!" I was trying so hard not to get sad myself in front of her, but I wasn't doing a very good job (you are NEVER too old to miss your parents!).
They finally went to bed around 7:30-8. Anna started crying because she was just exhausted, and then Carrie joined in. I went into Carrie's room and laid down with her and asked what was wrong, already knowing full well what it was. She missed my parents, and nothing I did or said was helping, so I just let her cry some to get it all out. And that's when it hit me - this is the beginning of what I can only imagine is one of the hardest things about being a parent - seeing your child hurting and not being able to do a damn thing about it. I mean, Carrie's been upset before, but it's usually because I won't let her do what she wants to do, or she's scraped her knee or something like that. Nothing like her missing a person and not understanding why she can't just see my parents whenever she wants to. I felt like my heart was being ripped out when she was crying. I wanted so badly to make everything right and make her feel better, but I knew nothing was going to help her right in that minute, and it sucked.
All I can say is I may not be able to get my parents' jobs moved down here so they can be around all the time and Carrie can see them whenever she wants, but God help the boy that breaks my baby's heart :)
****MASCARA ALERT********
I had to add that in there for my mom, cause I'm pretty sure it will make her tear up. And I'm not putting this out there to make my mom & dad feel guilty about having to leave yesterday!!
So my mom has been here since last Saturday, and my dad came on Thursday. We had a great week. I know the girls were testing Mom's patience at times (heck, they test mine on a regular basis). Ken showed up on Thursday and we all took Carrie to gymnastics and just had a wonderful time together. Jerry got back into town late Thursday and we spent the weekend getting ready for Carrie's party and enjoying the company of family and friends.
Then after the party on Saturday came the time I knew was coming - I knew Mom would get sad at the idea of having to leave the girls. Carrie didn't help things because Mom was telling her that she had to leave to go back to Atlanta and she said "I love you Lady!" My mom told her she loved her too, then Carrie responds "I love you SO MUCH." That's enough to make anyone get sappy. So both of them are teary-eyed, which made me teary-eyed. It's a domino effect I think.
We got my parents off and headed back north, and all hell broke loose. Anna was clearly tired but thought a nap was optional, and Carrie was still getting upset that Lady and KnowMan had to leave. I knew one of the gifts she received from a friend was the movie Tangled so we broke that out and popped it in the player.
For the rest of the day, she'd be fine then all of a sudden she would bust out in tears saying "I want Lady & KnowMan!" I was trying so hard not to get sad myself in front of her, but I wasn't doing a very good job (you are NEVER too old to miss your parents!).
They finally went to bed around 7:30-8. Anna started crying because she was just exhausted, and then Carrie joined in. I went into Carrie's room and laid down with her and asked what was wrong, already knowing full well what it was. She missed my parents, and nothing I did or said was helping, so I just let her cry some to get it all out. And that's when it hit me - this is the beginning of what I can only imagine is one of the hardest things about being a parent - seeing your child hurting and not being able to do a damn thing about it. I mean, Carrie's been upset before, but it's usually because I won't let her do what she wants to do, or she's scraped her knee or something like that. Nothing like her missing a person and not understanding why she can't just see my parents whenever she wants to. I felt like my heart was being ripped out when she was crying. I wanted so badly to make everything right and make her feel better, but I knew nothing was going to help her right in that minute, and it sucked.
All I can say is I may not be able to get my parents' jobs moved down here so they can be around all the time and Carrie can see them whenever she wants, but God help the boy that breaks my baby's heart :)
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Scariest Day of My Life
That was yesterday - the scariest day of my life. Why, you might ask? Because I had to drive this:
That would be my mother's car. She is down visiting to help out with the girls while Jerry's away (and thank goodness, cause I think they are figuring out finally that Mommy can't possibly chase after them). I had to stay at work late yesterday because of some meetings, which meant she would need to pick up the girls. She already had one car seat in the back of that beast, and we, being apparently as ridiculous as we are, thought we could shove another car seat in the back of the Mustang.
It didn't work.
I probably didn't even need to tell you that, huh?
I am sure it was quite the sight to see my mother and I taking turns at trying to wrestle another Britax into the back of that car. After about 15 minutes of sweating and wrestling, we gave up and came to the conclusion that I would just drive her car to work and she could use the Expo. I have always been terrified of driving my mother's cars. She doesn't get new ones very often....as in the last car she had she drove for 20 years and is still in the garage at home (I think it was 20 years - correct me if I am wrong Mom!). She takes EXCELLENT care of her cars, so that she can drive the wheels off of them. And besides that - this friggin' car is a beast. I mean, you crank it up and everyone within a 5 mile radius knows it. And it has a lot of get up and go, obviously. I was scared to death I was going to have an accident or someone was going to ram into me. Before I left she said "why are you freaking out? It's just a car!" Um, okay :) I didn't want to make that phone call to say guess what? Just wrapped your car around a tree!!
It's been awhile since I called or texted my mother to let her know whenever I arrived at my destination, but I did that yesterday. "Made it to doc - didn't bend your car!" "Made it to work - didn't bend your car!" "On my way home now - hopefully won't bend your car!"
I have to admit - while I felt like I was riding about 2 inches off the road, it was quite fun to drive something other than the Mommy SUV for a change. But I am also quite glad to have my giant SUV back today so I can see everything going on around me!
That would be my mother's car. She is down visiting to help out with the girls while Jerry's away (and thank goodness, cause I think they are figuring out finally that Mommy can't possibly chase after them). I had to stay at work late yesterday because of some meetings, which meant she would need to pick up the girls. She already had one car seat in the back of that beast, and we, being apparently as ridiculous as we are, thought we could shove another car seat in the back of the Mustang.
It didn't work.
I probably didn't even need to tell you that, huh?
I am sure it was quite the sight to see my mother and I taking turns at trying to wrestle another Britax into the back of that car. After about 15 minutes of sweating and wrestling, we gave up and came to the conclusion that I would just drive her car to work and she could use the Expo. I have always been terrified of driving my mother's cars. She doesn't get new ones very often....as in the last car she had she drove for 20 years and is still in the garage at home (I think it was 20 years - correct me if I am wrong Mom!). She takes EXCELLENT care of her cars, so that she can drive the wheels off of them. And besides that - this friggin' car is a beast. I mean, you crank it up and everyone within a 5 mile radius knows it. And it has a lot of get up and go, obviously. I was scared to death I was going to have an accident or someone was going to ram into me. Before I left she said "why are you freaking out? It's just a car!" Um, okay :) I didn't want to make that phone call to say guess what? Just wrapped your car around a tree!!
It's been awhile since I called or texted my mother to let her know whenever I arrived at my destination, but I did that yesterday. "Made it to doc - didn't bend your car!" "Made it to work - didn't bend your car!" "On my way home now - hopefully won't bend your car!"
I have to admit - while I felt like I was riding about 2 inches off the road, it was quite fun to drive something other than the Mommy SUV for a change. But I am also quite glad to have my giant SUV back today so I can see everything going on around me!
Friday, April 8, 2011
A Favorite Hangout
The girls and I were on our own tonight while Daddy is hanging out for work in San Diego (rough life, huh?). I was chatting with a friend today and she said she was taking her and her sister's kiddos to Island Playground and asked if we wanted to go. I initially told her no since I can't really chase the girls around (and by girls, I mean Anna, cause she is all. over. the. place), but she offered to keep them wrangled. So I stopped by Starbucks, got us some java chip fraps as a thank you for keeping my kids in line, and the girls some milk, and off we went. Carrie's been many times, but this was really Anna's first time where she knew what to do and could play in all of the bounce houses. I think Anna spent the first 10 minutes just squealing at the top of her lungs checking everything out. She had a great time playing with all the other kids. It was so nice because it was practically empty. Most of the times we go it's either a Saturday, raining, cold, or some other variable that means every other child in HHI and Bluffton are there. Literally there were only our 7 munchkins and two other kids. It was great to just get out and hang out with a good friend I haven't seen in awhile and let the girls burn off some toddler energy. And the fact that I captured this little picture definitely topped off the trip:
Thanks Ms. Anna (not to be confused with my little Anna!) for helping wrangle my kids and getting me out of the house!!
Thanks Ms. Anna (not to be confused with my little Anna!) for helping wrangle my kids and getting me out of the house!!
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