The Bennett Family

Petting Zoo

2011-04-23T20:09:00.001-04:00

Our library hosted a petting zoo on Thursday, and since it was Spring Break week, Brooke was able to come along with us! We had such a fun time having her home all week-makes me ready for summer!

We arrived at the library a little early, and had planned to go in and return some books and browse for new ones. As we were walking up, the petting zoo people invited us over, so the kids were able to pet and play with the animals before the crowd showed up!
This bunny was a HUGE hit-he was easily the size of Bo!
Bethany was so gentle with the animals, and really liked the little ones (she called them babies, but they were actually full-grown).
Brooke liked the bigger animals, the sheep and llama in particular. They also had a hedgehog she liked, but it was pretty cold outside so it was hard to see it burrowed under the wood chips in the cage.
Even Bo got to pet the animals. Bethany (a.k.a. Big Mamma) took him over and helped him reach a sheep.
He was happy to stand there with his hand hanging in the cage, waiting for animals to come close enough to touch!
We were pretty cold by that point, so we went inside to get new books. We were waiting for friends, so we found a spot for the girls to read while Bo played with a puzzle.
Once our friends arrived, we headed back outside to see the animals again. At some point, Bethany grabbed the camera out of my purse and snapped this picture of me and Bo. I'm glad she did that, I'm usually the one taking pictures which means I'm hardly ever in them!
Doesn't Bo look like such a big boy running around playing? He joined the girls in a game of tag with their friends, and then we spent some time on a little playground nearby. They had a fun time, and were worn out when we left!

Cherry Blossoms

2011-04-21T19:39:00.003-04:00

We went into D.C. a few weeks ago to see the Cherry Blossoms. My camera battery died pretty early in the afternoon, so Rob used his phone to take most of our pictures (and the quality is pretty comparable to our camera-crazy!). I finally got tired of waiting for him to send the pictures from his phone, so here are a few pictures from the camera!

The blooms were so pretty-we had some strong thunderstorms the day before and I was worried they would have knocked most of the blooms off the trees, but I was wrong! We rode the Metro into the city, and the girls thought it was so fun to ride a train. It took about 30 minutes to get there, and they were ready to explore!

We started making our way to the tidal basin, stopping to check out the Washington Monument along the way. We were also able to see the Capitol in the distance, and Brooke was in awe of being so close to the monuments. She has been begging to go into D.C., so this was really exciting for her!

We made it to where most of the blooms were, and sat down to eat some snacks.

While we were standing at the edge of the water, Bethany kept asking what would happen if she fell in. She wanted to know who would jump in to save her, and at one point she looked like she might try it just to find out. It is never boring with Bethany around!

A couple asked me to take their picture, and then offered to take a picture of Rob and me. Turns out they are Aggies-small world!

Me and my little loves-we were freezing! We had been outside for a couple of hours, and decided it was time to head home. We made a stop at the WWII Memorial on our way back to the Metro station.

The girls took a break from walking, and then we looked around a little bit. Brooke was asking a lot of questions about different parts of the memorial-it is neat to see her interest in history. With a soldier for a daddy, she was particular interested in the war details.

It was a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon! Rob took the girls to the Cherry Blossom Parade the next weekend, and they had a great time (even if they were FREEZING!). Of course, those pictures are also on his phone, so who knows if they will ever make it to the blog!

Geocaching

2011-03-28T10:21:00.004-04:00

Rob and the girls have recently started geocaching, and they love it! They named themselves the 'Bennett Pack' and registered online at the geocaching website, and then set off on their first adventure. Rob and I were really surprised when Bethany said she wanted to go, she is not really a fan of walking a lot or being outside in the cold, but she did great. Since this was their first time, they decided to stay in the neighborhood.

We live in the middle of a forest, so there was still a good bit of hiking and walking involved. The girls loaded their 'adventure packs' with snacks and drinks before leaving the house.
They followed the co-ordinates, and found the first cache! Do you see it hidden under the leaves by the tree?
Inside were various small trinkets. If you bring a trinket with you, you can swap for something inside the cache. There is also a log book, which they signed, letting people know they had found the cache.
I thought this was a great shot of Bethany hiking, until Rob told me it was actually a picture of her stuck in thorns. Poor baby also managed to fall down 5 times.
They decided it was time for a break, so they headed back to the truck to eat their snacks, and then came home so Bethany could recover. After 2 hours of hiking through the woods, the girls were worn out! Later that evening they were begging to go out one more time, so Rob took them to another cache in the neighborhood.
It took a while, but they eventually found it hidden beneath the logs.
Geocaching is quickly becoming a favorite hobby in our house!

Rainy Weekend

2011-03-07T08:49:00.003-05:00

This weekend was cold and rainy, so we spent most of it indoors. Brooke and Bethany have been looking forward to the monthly Home Depot kids workshop for a few weeks now, and woke up Saturday asking what time they were leaving. Rob took them while I stayed home with Bo (who was napping-one of these days it will be easier to go places as a family!), and he took some pics with his phone.

This month's project was a race car.
All finished and ready to race!

Saturday afternoon I ran to the store to pick up a few things, and Bethany came with me. She loves going on errands, and always brings her purse in case she finds something to buy. We were in Ulta, so she picked out some new purple fingernail polish. She considered black fingernail polish, but then decided that was not a very happy color and she didn't want grumpy fingernails. She cracks me up.

Sunday morning we went to the more contemporary early service at church (which starts at 8:45-can't believe we were up and ready in time!), trying to work around Bo's morning nap. Sundays are so hard on him, there isn't a good time for a morning nap, and then his afternoon nap is messed up and he is grumpy all evening. And I really hate leaving him in the nursery when he is fussy and tired-I know it's not easy for the workers to take care of him and entertain the other kids. Anyway, the earlier service followed by Sunday School seemed to work a little better for Bo, but then Brooke was sad that she didn't get to go to Children's Church. Can't keep everyone happy at the same time, right?

It rained non-stop on Sunday, so we had a lazy afternoon watching movies and napping. The girls made cakes in the easy bake oven and played the Wii, and then it was time for baths and bed. I am thankful to wake up to sunshine this morning!

It's Coming...

2011-03-04T14:11:00.006-05:00

It was 35* this morning, but surprises in our front flowerbed hint that spring is on the way.

Read Across America

2011-03-02T21:29:00.004-05:00

Today is the birthday of Dr. Seuss, and there have been several Read Across America activities this past week. On Saturday morning our local Target store had story time, so the girls and I went while Bo stayed at home napping with Rob.

Brooke was excited to see one of her classmates there, and they had fun listening to different silly stories.

They were each given a goody bag, filled with juice, crackers, fruit snacks, colors and notepad, sidewalk chalk, etc. They were most impressed with the fact that they now have their own reusable shopping bags-ha! They sat in a basket and ate their snack while we walked around the store for a bit (I honestly think we could spend half the day wandering the aisles in there!).

Today was character dress-up day at Brooke's school, and she asked to be the Cat in the Hat.

The costume was super easy to make. We just cut a circle of white felt, tied a bow out of some leftover red Christmas ribbon, and hot glued them both onto a black sweatshirt. She already had black leggings and boots, and then we added a striped hat that we picked up at the party store (and each little lady got a free balloon-they love that place!).

Eyeliner was perfect for drawing on whiskers, and she was all set!

Bo wasn't too sure about her outfit this morning! She wanted a picture with him, but he was a little nervous...this was the best we got.

Not one to miss out on anything, Bethany decided she needed to dress up. She wanted to be Sally from the Cat in the Hat, and since she watches the show on PBS in the mornings she knew exactly what to wear: a fancy pink dress with a white shirt underneath and a pink headband. We dug last year's Easter dress out of a bucket in the closet and layered a white turtleneck underneath. She found her glittery pink headband and frilly socks, and was all set!

She insisted on wearing her Sally outfit to church tonight (with pink cowboy boots)...her new teachers are already picking up on Bethany's 'fancy' fashion sense!

77* and Sunshine

2011-02-24T10:04:00.002-05:00

This past weekend we had some beautiful weather-plenty of sunshine and 77* on Friday afternoon! That is the warmest it has been here since October 28th (it was on the news that evening). After two weeks of having the flu in our house, we desperately needed the fresh air and time outside!

Friday morning we started raking all of the leaves and china berries in the front yard. Rob had already raked once before the kids and I arrived, but our yard was covered again. We spent almost 5 hours raking and bagging leaves...I'm scared to see how long it will take this fall when the trees are really dropping leaves!

Bo loves being outside, and was happy to walk up and down the sidewalk while we worked.

He also really liked trying to run into the street from our driveway. I am thankful that we live on a very quiet cul-de-sac!

Brooke found treasures. The little ladies are excited to have a 'pinecone tree' in our yard.

Jumping in leaves is hard when the piles are tiny. She will have better luck this fall!

We have had a lot of windy days lately, and there were tons of sticks and limbs in our yard. We told the girls they could earn a penny for every stick they picked up. Brooke was a very hard worker, and earned $5.37.

Bethany gave up after ten minutes, asked if she had enough sticks to earn $1, and decided to ride her bike instead.

Brooke was out of school sick last Tuesday through Friday, off on Monday for President's Day, and then off again on Tuesday for yet another snow day (I think we're up to 7 snow days so far). Yesterday they celebrated the 100th day of school, and today she commented that this is only the second time she has gone to school on a Thursday since we moved here (and she's right!). I love routine, so the last few weeks have felt like chaos. I am happy that everyone is feeling better and things are getting back to normal!

Valentine

2011-02-16T09:54:00.003-05:00

The flu has been going around our house, and it is slowly taking us out, one by one. It started with Rob, who is convinced he picked up germs from Chuck E. Cheese. About 5 days later, Bo woke up with a high fever-victim #2. I had a very mild and short-lived version over the weekend (I like to think it's due to my mommy-immunity to sickness), and now Brooke is sick.

Most of my past week has been spent on the couch with a sick baby, but we did manage to pull ourselves together Friday afternoon and made Valentine's for Brooke's friends. She wanted to do most of the work, so we picked a simple craft-a homemade card tied to a nerds rope.

First, we cut tons of hearts using our cricut. She was excited to push the buttons and be in charge-this is the first time she's been allowed to try it out.

Next, we ran the hearts through the xyron with the adhesive cartridge-basically turned them into stickers.
Then she used the hearts to decorate the cards, that we had printed a greeting on. Bethany wanted to help, so she made sure the stickers were pressed down all the way.
She wrote each friend's name on the outside of the card, and Bethany helped keep track by marking off the names on the class list.
Ready to take to school for her friends. That evening was the school Valentine's Dance, and the little ladies were so excited! Bo was still sick, so Rob volunteered to take the girls. Here they are, showing off their freshly painted fingernails.

Ready to go!

Brooke found several of her new friends, and they spent the night running around together. I am happy that she has transitioned into her new school so well! Bethany was happy to meet some of Brooke's friends, too. She's been a bit lonely, so it was good for her to get out and have a fun evening.
On Monday, Brooke's teacher had Friendship Day activities in honor of Valentine's Day. Since it was just a 'fun day', I didn't feel bad pulling Brooke out of school for a few hours to visit Rob at work. His command hosted a family day, and we were able to tour part of his building and see some of what he does at work. Since it is all classified, we only saw a tiny portion of what goes on, but it was still really neat. The girls thought the best part was the snack table-cupcakes, chocolate covered strawberries, cookies, etc. We grabbed a quick lunch and then dropped Brooke off at school just in time for her Valentine party.

Kid's Rooms and Bathroom

2011-02-08T09:43:00.004-05:00

Picking back up with the house tour, I thought I would share pictures of the kid's bedrooms and bathroom (which just happens to be the rest of the upstairs!). There is a landing at the top of the staircase, the master bedroom is down the hall on the right, and the kid's rooms are on the left. The landing is still a work-in-progress (I feel like most of our house is, actually). I plan to hang something on the wall above the desk, just haven't figured out what.

You can see the room Brooke and Bethany share from the staircase. I love walking up the stairs and seeing the sunlight in their room.

The pom-poms were from Brooke's 5th birthday party, and they survived the move. They were a little squished when we pulled them out of the boxes, but the girls really wanted them in their room, so we hung and fluffed and made them work. Their armoire is across from the foot of the bed, beside the quilt rack (somehow it didn't make it into the pictures).

The closet in their bedroom is a set of sliding doors. I originally thought they were really weird, but now I like them.

Each girl has her own side of the closet, and there is plenty of space for shoes, purses, bags, and tubs of out-of-season clothing. As an added bonus, we didn't have to arrange furniture with space for a door to open out into the room. Sounds trivial, but it was actually very nice considering we already had to work around the placements of air vents in the walls (they aren't in the ceilings like houses back home).

Bo's bedroom is next door to the girls. Here is the view from the doorway.

It is set up very similar to his room in Texas.
He also has the sliding closet doors.
Because the shelf in his old room was bolted to the wall, we had to leave it when we sold the house. I picked up a new one the other day, just need it to warm up a little so I can spray paint it and hang it above the dresser.
The kid's bathroom is down the hall towards the master bedroom. It is a pretty small room, but it does have a full size bathtub, so it is larger than the master bathroom!
There is just enough space on the vanity for toothbrushes, soap and earrings.
This is the view from outside the bathroom, looking back towards the bedrooms.
We use the little closet for linens and bath towels, since there is no storage space in the bathrooms. I also have plastic grocery bags hanging in there for use in the bathroom trash cans-I'm too lazy to walk downstairs twice a week to grab new ones, so keeping them in here works for us.

Super Bowl Sunday

2011-02-07T09:54:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was Super Bowl Sunday, and we had planned to go to church in the morning and then come home to make some yummy snacks for the game. Unfortunately, Rob began feeling bad Saturday evening, and woke up running a fever Sunday morning. He was miserable, so he stayed at home while I took the kids to church. Doesn't Bo look too cute in his new sweater from Grandpa and Nana?

One of my biggest concerns when we move is finding a good church. We loved our church in San Angelo, and I was worried about finding something just as good in our new town. The first church we decided to visit, Lake Ridge, is in our neighborhood, and we liked it, but had a few reservations. The pastor announced his retirement at the end of the service, and we were unsure about getting involved with a group that was in a major transition. So we visited another church, across town, with a larger congregation. Long story short, we did not care for it, and all of a sudden Lake Ridge seemed really appealing! The girls had been begging to go back, so we gave it another shot last weekend. We had discussed visiting a Sunday School class this week, but with Rob being sick, that didn't happen. I have a feeling this is the church we will settle into, and I am excited! They have lots of good stuff going on for the kids, women, and families, so I hope we will fit right in.
The girls are on another matching kick, and picked out their clothes. They go in cycles of wanting to match and then refusing to wear anything that remotely co-ordinates. And for some reason they have decided their cowboy boots are the only shoes appropriate for church, and have worn them every Sunday we have been here. Nobody is surprised when they hear we are from Texas!
Rob was down in the guest bedroom asleep when we came home, so I made lunch and then we all took naps (except for Brooke, who watched a movie on the couch were I was resting). We have been trying to cut back on spending, so instead of eating out after church we've been coming home for grilled cheese sandwiches, fruit, and go-gurts. The girls weren't too happy about that the first few weeks, but now they look forward to it!
Bo likes the grilled cheese too, but does not like the crust-he picks it off and sits it aside on the table. Any time Bo is at the table, Sarge waits right beneath him for any crumbs.
And when Bo is finished eating, he starts throwing his food down for the dog-these two are becoming fast friends!
We must have all been exhausted, because we didn't wake up until 4:30. Rob was feeling a little better, but not 100%, so we skipped making snacks for the game and heated up some leftover chicken and dumplings for dinner-yum! We got the kids in their jammies so they could watch a little bit of the game before bedtime. Bo wore his football pj's in honor of the game!
Brooke was very excited about the Super Bowl-she loves sports, and doesn't really care who is playing. We told her we were rooting for Green Bay, and she was cheering away! We put the kids to bed at half-time, and the first thing she asked this morning was 'Who won the game?'.
Bethany is not interested in football, so she watched Angelina Ballerina while playing in the basement. She would come up every now and then to check the score (mostly when she heard Brooke squealing), but for the most part she was just happy to have extra time to play baby dolls before bedtime.

Rob spent the night down in the guest bedroom again, and was still feeling bad when he left for work this morning. I asked if it was safe to wash the sheets yet, or if he thought he'd be down there again tonight, and he told me to leave them just in case...that doesn't sound too good! I hope he starts feeling better soon (and I also hope nobody else gets whatever it is!).

Bethany is FIVE!

2011-02-05T15:21:00.009-05:00

Bethany has been counting down to her birthday since we hung her new calendar on January 1, and she had big plans for her special day! She requested that we surprise her in the morning by jumping out and yelling 'Surprise! Happy Birthday!', and was kind enough to yell from the top of the stairs that she was awake before heading down to the kitchen. She was thrilled when we jumped out from behind the pantry doors, and acted so surprised-silly girl!

While Bo was taking his morning nap, we made the birthday cake. Bethany picked out a funfetti cake with pink icing, because they are so fancy. A fancy girl definitely needs a fancy cake!
Brooke helped us add the ingredients, and was disappointed that box cake mixes don't have as many ingredients as homemade cakes. All we needed was water, oil and eggs-not nearly as exciting as the birthday cake we made for Bo last week!

Once the cake was cooled, we added the icing and decorations. Bethany found some Little Mermaid sugar candies at the store, and decided they needed to go on her cake. It was getting fancier by the minute!
Rob had to work, but decided to come home around 1:00 so we could open presents and get started on the other activities. Bethany was standing at the door waiting for him, and requested a picture under the birthday wreath. Rob went upstairs to change out of his uniform, and Brooke passed out presents to Bethany.
Finally time to open her gifts! Bethany loved the blue velour bag that was holding one of her gifts, so that was the first one she opened.
While she was busy, Bo decided to take off with one of her gifts. He wasn't too interested in his presents last week, but was totally into them today! The ribbon on this gift box was perfect for his little fingers, and he drug it all over the living room.
Bethany had fun opening her gifts, and got lots of fun stuff to play with!

She also got some cute new clothes!

Next was time for cake. "Happy Birthday, to you!".

Make a wish!
We were in Target last week, and Bethany saw Paul Frank party decorations...her Aunt Ashley would be proud! So we had a Little Mermaid cake, with monkey plates and napkins-she thought it was fabulous!
Brooke made a huge mess of her piece, getting icing all in her hair.
She ate every last crumb.Bo was excited to eat cake again-this is his face in between bites.And this was his face when he realized his piece was finished. He wanted seconds!
Next on our list of activities was Build-a-Bear. The girls each picked out an animal to have stuffed, Bethany chose a bear and Brooke chose a puppy.
Rubbing the hearts to warm them up before putting them inside the animals.
All stuffed and ready to be fluffed.
Grooming station, making sure they were well fluffed before picking out clothes.
Bethany searched the store for a fancy outfit, and settled on a teal dress with matching high-heel shoes. Brooke picked out a winter sweater and ice skates for her puppy.
She loves her new bear! Our next stop was Chuck E. Cheese for dinner, as requested by the Birthday Girl.
We ordered a large pizza, and had two pieces left over-not the best food we've ever eaten. The girls (and Rob) were ready to play games, and it took us 2 hours to use all of our tokens.

There was a photo booth that printed off little i.d. cards...Bethany loved them.

She loved them so much, that she made several!
Brooke and Rob spent a good portion of the evening playing this shooting game.
And then they hit the jackpot on the balloon game!
The girls raced on snow mobiles, and then we were (finally!) out of tokens.
They traded their tickets for prizes, and we were ready to go home!
It was about 8:00 when we got home, so the girls watched a few minutes of Winter Wipe-Out before heading to bed. Their normal bedtime is 7:30, so this was a special treat to be up late enough to watch one of their favorite shows!

Bethany said this was her favorite birthday ever, and she can't believe she is finally five years old! She is already asking for a backpack and lunchbox for kindergarten...guess we are starting a new countdown on the calendar!

Bo is One!

2011-01-27T12:54:00.004-05:00

It doesn't seem like our baby should be turning one, this past year has flown by! We woke up to a slushie mess outside, lots of ice and a little snow, and were not surprised to hear that school was cancelled. The sleet was really loud hitting the house, so the kids were all awake by 5:45...why does that always happen on days we could sleep in? When Bethany woke up, she told Bo happy birthday, and then said, "He sure doesn't look like a one-year-old, he still looks like zero".

We came downstairs to presents in the living room, and after clearing out some balloons, Bo jumped right into his car for a ride.
His sisters were ready to push him around, so he took several trips through the living/dining/kitchen before coming back to refuel.
He was so cute holding on to the steering wheel. We put the car downstairs in the basement, and I later found it filled with baby dolls...the little ladies were just as excited about Bo's new toy!
Rob had to go to work, so we told the girls Bo could open the rest of his presents in the evening. We made Bo's birthday cake during his morning nap, and the girls were very eager to help-they love cooking! I decided to make a coca-cola cake, it is one of our favorites, and I figure Bo is too young to care right now anyway. Rob called around 3:00 and said he was headed home early, so the girls sat in the kitchen watching the road for him. They were ready for Bo to open his other gifts!
Rob got home just before the snow started falling-perfect timing! We went to the living room to open presents. Bo wasn't too sure what to do, and needed a little help. Most of the time he was happy to just play with the paper and boxes-typical! His grandparents sent gifts, and we picked up a few small things for him, so it took a while to get everything opened.
Next it was time for cake!
Bethany picked out a 'Cars' themed candle, since he was getting a new car.
Bo couldn't figure out why we were singing to him, he just wanted to eat cake! I had to scoot it out of his reach, because he couldn't keep his little hands off of it.
Bo got the first bite-yummy! I started out feeding him with a fork, but that didn't last long at all.
He much preferred eating cake by the handful.
It was very messy.
He scraped every crumb off his fork.

And picked every piece off his overalls.
Needless to say, he went straight to the bathtub when we were finished! It was different to have such a small celebration for his birthday, but it was actually kind of nice. There was nothing for me to worry about, no activities to plan, no real food to cook, etc...we might go small for birthdays from now on!

He has spent this morning playing with his new toys, with help from the little ladies. His favorite thing is to load all of his new cars into this gift bag, walk it to a different part of the room, unload it and then repeat.

Happy Birthday, Bo William-we love you!

Someone's Having a Birthday!

2011-01-25T21:49:00.005-05:00

Tomorrow is Bo's first birthday, and we are so excited! When the girls turned one, we flew home to Texas and had a big shin-dig with our whole family. Some family members met them for the first time at their party, so it was something we planned and looked forward to. This year, it's not possible to go home, and we just saw everyone at Christmas, so we are keeping it simple by doing cake and presents with our immediate family. It has been really weird to NOT plan a big party, so the girls and I decided to make a birthday balloon wreath to have at least a little decoration.

We were out running errands while Brooke was in school, so we picked up the wreath supplies and got started this afternoon. The wreath is very simple to make, you just cover a straw wreath with balloons. The girls assigned themselves the job of sorting the balloons by color (I'm sure you can guess which little lady decided this was necessary). We used 300 balloons, so this kept them occupied for quite a while!

Bo wasn't interested in helping, but he was happy to carry around a package of balloons. He was not so happy when Brooke took it away to be sorted.
1 hour and 300 balloons later, we have a cute wreath to hang on our front door. Bethany has requested that it stay there until her birthday (which is only a week away!) and Brooke said it will need to come back out in July for her birthday, too.

I originally found the wreath idea at this website . I increased the number of balloons so it would be a bit fuller, and it was super-easy to make. My thumbs are throbbing from pushing the floral pins in, but it was worth it!

Once the kids were in bed, Rob and I assembled and wrapped presents for our little guy. The girls are so excited for Bo to wake up and see his new car. I told them we have to wait until after dinner to let him open gifts, and they were begging us to give him his car and gas pump in the morning...I'm pretty sure they want to play with it!

Master Bedroom

2011-01-20T12:18:00.005-05:00

This is what you see when you enter our bedroom from the hallway. I love walking towards our room and seeing all of the sunshine through the windows. Have you figured out yet that I really need sunshine? Seriously, it is like water, food and air to me. Without it, I am a sad, grumpy girl!

The curtains in this room used to be in our dining room (and were in a living room before that). I refuse to buy all new curtains every time we move, so I was thrilled when these panels fit in this room. Our old master bedroom was painted a light green, but I really like the paint color in here. It is a nice neutral, but doesn't totally disappear...might need to figure out what color it is in case I want to use it in the future!

What you don't see, is the extra sitting room that just about doubles our space! This was originally one large room, but a previous owner had a growing family, and decided to add a wall to make a space for a nursery. The current owners weren't thrilled with that layout, so they had a walkway cut out of the wall, added a gas fireplace and bookcases, and transformed it into a sitting room.

After living here for a few weeks now, I completely understand why they did this. The master bathroom is TINY, so we have used this space as an extra dressing area. Rob's long dresser fit in the walk-in closet at our old house, but that arrangement doesn't work here, so we stuck it under the window.

We put some of his military awards on the wall, and put all of our books in the bookcases. We are still missing a few boxes of books, so I haven't started organizing any of them yet. We also put the girls' boardgames at the top of the bookcases. I didn't want them down in the basement with the toys, where Bo could lose parts or choke on tiny pieces, so this as a good place to store them.

Directly across from his dresser is my vanity. My parents found this at a garage sale when I was in middle school, and they refinished it for me. My sister used it for a few years after I moved out, and when she got new furniture I brought it home for the girls. There is no room for it in their room, and with our TINY bathroom, I really needed a place to put my makeup, hair supplies, etc. so my mom suggested moving it in here. Perfect solution! The door to the left leads out to the hallway, and is directly across from the kids' bathroom, so the girls can easily brush their teeth and then come in here to get their hair fixed in the mornings. I still haven't found the little stool that goes with it, so Rob dug out one of his old camping chairs from boy scouts for me to use-isn't he sweet?

This is the view of our room if you are standing in the sitting room. If you look a little to the right, you will see the doors to the closet and bathroom.

The left door is the closet, the right door is the bathroom.

The closet is really narrow, but plenty deep. We hung military uniforms and out of season clothing on the top rack, because it is really high and you need a step stool to actually get anything down. Not really a practical place to put stuff you will be wearing on a regular basis!

One neat feature of the closet is the laundry chute. The girls love throwing their laundry down, and it is very convenient to have the clothes pile waiting in front of the washing machine.

Can you see the pile of laundry waiting for me? If only it was that easy to get it back up the stairs after it's washed!

And here is the TINY bathroom. We cannot both stand in here at the same time, and there is no room for the toilet paper roll to fit between the sink and toilet, so it's across the room, beside the door (and still within arm's reach!). If we put our scale in here, it would take up the majority of the floor space, so it is downstairs in the basement bathroom.

There is no tub, just a shower stall, which actually works great for us since neither of us really sit down for a bath. The kids bathroom has a tub, so we still have the option, but I can't get past the idea of sitting in dirty water with dead skin cells and stuff floating around. I know some people find it really relaxing, and I know I am weird and have issues. Honestly, I don't mind this room being tiny. Less to clean and more living space-works for me!

Big Boy Haircut

2011-01-17T19:57:00.003-05:00

Rob has been begging me to cut Bo's hair for months now, complaining about how shaggy he was looking. Rob keeps his hair very short (and wore it that way even before joining the military), so hair over the ears and falling into the eyes is not his favorite on little boys. I kept putting him off, trying to wait until Bo's first birthday before cutting it, but he was right...it was time. Friday night Bo fell asleep in Rob's lap, and as we were watching him sleep we agreed that we would cut his hair the next morning.

We discussed taking him somewhere to have it cut, and then decided to just pull out my clippers and cut it in the kitchen. I wasn't sure he would sit still for someone else without being scared, so we decided a home haircut might be easier.

Rob was eager to help, so he started trimming up top...I was shocked at the amount of hair coming off! Bo did really well, and was happy to smile and look around while Rob was working on him (he was probably happy to have that hair out of his face!).

Once the top was finished, I got out the scissors and trimmed up the back and sides. Bo was starting to get impatient, so Rob fed him dry cereal to keep him happy. This boy loves food, so he was content as long as he kept getting little bites, and I was able to finish the haircut.

Is he not the cutest little guy?

I wanted a picture with him once we were finished, and he just kept giving me hugs. I like to think he was saying, "Thanks, Mom!".

He looks like such a big boy now-it is amazing how much difference a haircut can make! The girls did not have their first haircuts until they were much older (Brooke was almost 4 and Bethany was 2.5), so cutting my baby's hair was a whole new experience. He is growing up so fast, and we just love him to pieces!

The Basement

2011-01-13T13:17:00.006-05:00

The basement is the saving grace for this house...without it, we would be really cramped! I'm not totally finished arranging and organizing things, but I've finally gotten all of the boxes out of here. This is where the girls spend the majority of their time, and I am so thankful for this space!

This is the view from the top of the staircase, looking down into the basement. The cedar chest on the right belonged to my great-grandmother, and is filled with blankets. This is the coldest room in the house, so it's nice to have something to cover up with when we are watching a movie or reading down here. Rob built the small bookcases that were previously in our toy room, and they fit perfectly on either side of the fireplace. And speaking of the fireplace, I don't plan for the stuff on the mantel to stay there, my goal was just to get it out of a box. Ideally, I would like to frame some photos of the kids to mount on the wall above the mantel. If you turn a bit to the left, you will see the wall of windows. There are four windows along that wall, and I love to have the sun shining in...I *might* be able to survive winter here, as long as we have sunshine! That is also the wall that we put the play kitchen, Bo's ride on toys, and the buckets of toys on.If you are standing where the fireplace is, you are directly across the room from the desk. I have my sewing maching set up here, and the white bin to the right of the desk holds fabric, 'in progress' projects, and extra materials. The bookcase to the left of the desk was built by Rob's dad, and has been in several different rooms over the last 8 years. When we moved the hutch to the kitchen, I had to find an alternative to hold all of the craft supplies that were inside of it. I think once I organize it, this bookcase will be the perfect solution!If you are sitting at the desk, facing towards the fireplace, this is the view. It is hard to tell in pictures, but this room is a pretty good size. It is larger than our living room was in San Angelo, so there is plenty of room for the kids to play down here. Rob and I have also gotten good use out of this room, using it in the mornings to exercise. Rob has started the P90X system, and is fortunate to be able to do his workout here in the mornings instead of going into work for PT. I have started back up on the 30 Day Shred, and we have enough time in the mornings for me to do the workout (it's only 20 minutes) while the kids play down here, and then we get dressed to take Brooke to schoool. To the right of the staircase is a small hallway...the first door on the right is Sarge's room (really just the storage space under the staircase, but his kennel fits perfectly in there, so Rob gave him the room), the second door on the right is a bathroom, the door directly in front is the unfinished portion of the basement (which includes the laundry room), and the door to the left is a bedroom (you can't really see the doorway in this picture, but Rob's pull-up bar is attached to it-that black thing hanging just below the ceiling). Wow-how is that for a long run-on sentence? Bethany cracks me up, smiling sweetly on the stairs-she snuck into my picture!
The girls are pretty much the only ones that use this bathroom. I do have artwork to hang in here, but it has to be above freezing outside for me to go digging around in the garage to find the hammer and nails.
Bethany keeps calling this her bedroom, but I'm pretty sure she would freak out if we tried to make her sleep down here alone! The closet is filled with more toys, extra linens and pillows, and random camera equipment. I don't think we'll be getting any surprise visitors, so instead of keeping this closet open for guests luggage, clothing, etc, we filled the space up.

We also filled up the window seat area with all of the odd shaped plastic toys that wouldn't fit well anywhere else. I have at least 3 or 4 more boxes of toys to unpack, but they are somewhere in the garage. I'm considering not even bringing them into the house, and donating the stuff instead...the girls haven't asked about them, so they must not be missing anything important (you know, because toys are so important to begin with!).

This is quickly becoming one of my favorite rooms in the house!

A Snowy Morning-Picture Overload!

2011-01-08T19:34:00.008-05:00

We woke up to Brooke squealing "It snowed last night! And there is so much snow, it must have been a snow STORM!". Technically, we only had a light dusting of snow, but these two little girls could hardly contain themselves long enough to get bundled up and out in it!

First on their agenda was snow angels. They wanted to make them on the driveway before everyone stepped on the fresh snow and messed it up.

Bo was bundled up and ready to play too! We were laughing at the snowsuit Kaybird and Big Paw Paw gave him at Christmas, but it sure did come in handy today, and it was just big enough to keep his hands warm inside.I put him in this little sled to take his picture, and he started falling backwards. His snowsuit was so padded that he could barely move, and this next picture just cracks me up!And then he was flat on his back, with no way to roll over or sit back up! He didn't seem to mind, which worked out perfectly since Rob and I were laughing hysterically watching him squirm around. Does that make us bad parents?The little ladies were finished with their snow angels, and just giddy as they ran around the yard.

Apparently snow brings out silly faces in Bethany!

See what I mean?

And then a snowball fight broke out. Rob had shoveled the steps, and piled all of the snow up beside the garage. He was being sneaky while the girls were playing, and all of a sudden they were getting pelted with little snowballs.Bethany got smart and hid behind a tree in the yard. She kept poking her head out, taunting Rob with, "You can't get me!". She would wait for him to throw a snowball at her, and then run off to grab it and throw it back at him.Brooke snagged the sled, and used it as a shield.And then she noticed Bethany's strategy, and started collecting snowballs too. They had a nice pile beside the tree, and started attacking Rob!And she didn't want me to be left out, so she made sure to throw a snowball my way!Bo skipped the snowball fight, and hung out in the sled. He worked hard to wiggle a few fingers out, and was trying to touch the snow.A little more work, and he had a knee up...his plan to escape the sled was working!
And there goes a foot...so close!
Success! If only he could move well enough in that snowsuit to roll over and sit back up! We were freezing by this poing (Rob wasn't wearing any winter gear) so we headed in the house...except for Brooke, who insisted she needed to shovel the sidewalk.She worked for about 15 minutes, and got a lot of the snow cleared. I was impressed that she could lift the loaded shovel-that thing is heavy!

She was proud of the HUGE snowball she made!

I finally convinced her to come inside, and the girls sat down for some snowman soup (fancy hot chocolate).

What a fun morning in the snow! And the best part, the sun came out this afternoon and the driveway and road are totally clear. That is my kind of snow!

First Week of School

2011-01-07T16:28:00.004-05:00

Brooke has finished her first week at her new school, and she loves it! At the end of her first day, I asked if she had made any friends. She gave me a huge smile, and said, "Of course, 22 of them! And with me, we have 23 people in our class!". I am really enjoying our daily routine, especially the later start time. The first bell rings at 8:35, and since we are only a couple of streets away, we don't have to leave our house until 8:30 each morning. Since the kids are usually up by 6:30 at the latest, we have plenty of time to eat a good breakfast, get lunch together, clean the kitchen and play a little before leaving the house. Such a nice change from our usual frantic morning routine!
I asked Brooke to tell me her favorite things about her new school:

Rock wall in P.E., but it's a little scary the first time because you have to go across and the steps are high.

Math teacher is nice and teaches us a lot. (They have their main teacher, and then switch classes for math).

Computer Lab only has laptops to use, and I used one today!

Library is better here because you get to pick 2 books to take home! If you don't bring them back, you don't get to pick out anymore books.

Recess has 6 swings but it's kinda hard to swing by yourself because they are kinda high up.

Lunch is very loud.

Music is fun.

We had a pizza party today at lunch time and watched 101 Dalmatians.

I had NO homework for the first week!

Safety patrol, we don't really know what it is, but we see kids standing out with the crossing guards wearing safety patrol sashes. Brooke made one to wear around the house.
While Brooke was at school today, Bethany and I made pumpkin spice cookies. I'm sure we will be snacking on them during the Cotton Bowl, so we added a little Aggie team spirit with the icing.

It is freezing here, and they are saying we might get a little snow tonight or tomorrow. Bethany has already changed into her comfy (Aggie) pj's, but Brooke said she is keeping on her Aggie shirt for the game. I have spaghetti sauce and meatballs simmering on the stove, and we're hoping Rob is home early tonight. So far, he's been spending about 12 hours at work each day (and that is not including the time it takes him to do pt at home in the mornings).
Off to feed my hungry crew!

The Kitchen is the Heart of the Home

2011-01-05T20:33:00.007-05:00

I have spent most of the day in the kitchen, cleaning the cabinets, appliances, baseboards, floors...pretty much everything! After several hours of work, I can finally open a drawer without feeling like I need to immediately wash my hands. I don't know how the nasty gunk from the previous tenants got all over the place (or why it didn't bother them enough to wipe it off?) but I sure am glad it's gone! And I was extra thankful to have a cute new pair of cleaning gloves to wear today (most people wouldn't be excited to receive those as a bday present, but my sister-in-law knew I would love them!).

We worked really hard to improve the kitchen in our San Angelo house, and had a nice walk-in pantry and plenty of cabinet storage. I was a bit apprehensive about trying to squeeze our stuff into a new kitchen, but was pleasantly surprised to find plenty of cabinet space, a small pantry, and a computer area. As a bonus, the green paint is very similar to the color of our old master bedroom, and I love it! After working in it for a few days, I think it is a great space that will work perfectly for us.

Now that the kitchen is mostly in order, I wanted to share a few pictures. Here is the view if you are coming through the entrance near the front of the house. The pantry is to the left, and we moved a red hutch up to the right for extra storage. The breakfast table originally belonged to Rob's mom, and was given to us when we were married. I have to laugh when I think back to our first tiny unit on Ft. Meade-this little table filled the entire dining area! We have used it in several different rooms since then, and had it as a craft table in the computer room in San Angelo. This little computer area is fabulous! Rob and I both use our laptops, so the girls have inherited our old desktop computer, and I am so glad it was able to go in a room we spend a lot of time in. I don't think I'd like them down in the basement with free access to the internet, so this is a perfect spot for supervised computer time. They have spent the last two evenings playing games while I've cooked dinner.This is the view from the garage entrance, which is beside the computer area. The red hutch that we moved into the kitchen originally belonged to my sister, and I snatched it up when she was redoing her bedroom. A coat of barn paint later, and it was the perfect home for craft supplies. In this house, the hutch functions better as storage for random small appliances and party supplies. The cabinets and backsplash in this kitchen have red accents, so I am hoping the red hutch helps tie those in a bit. This is the view from the computer area, facing towards the dining room. The double doors open to a small pantry. I'm not too sure about the backsplash and red paint, they obviously were not put in at the same time the green paint went up.
And here is the opposite side of cabinets, with the garage door to the right.
Someone got creative, and added a hidden drawer in the baseboards. Not sure how useful it really is (there is no knob, so you either have to get down on your knees to pull it out or kick it out with your shoe), but it is an interesting surprise!
One thing that I really like is the sliding drawers inside the larger cabinet. I have our pots and pans stored there, and it is so nice to be able to pull the drawers out instead of digging through the cabinet to find the right pot and matching lid.And one thing I am still getting used to-having one large sink. I've always had a divided sink, and used one side to soak pots, bottles, etc. so this has been an adjustment. Twice now I have filled the sink with soapy water, only to realize I had dishes that needed to be emptied and rinsed before I could add them to the water. I filled the sink with bleach water this evening, gave it a good scrub and shined it up-now it is feeling like home!
And finally, the view from the dining room entrance. There are three large windows across the front of the kitchen, and sunlight fills this room during the day. I want to put a window covering of some sort on that wall, I'm thinking a valance with red in it to coordinate with the paint, backsplash and hutch. That requires digging out my sewing machine, and I'm hoping the basement will be in order soon so I can start experimenting!

All Things New

2011-01-03T18:28:00.007-05:00

We have finally arrived in Virginia, and are starting to get settled into our new home. If you are my facebook friend (or my mom's!) you know our trip was not entirely smooth. Needless to say, after 3 days in the van with 4 kids, and 2 of us having a horrible stomach bug, we all let out a sigh of relief when we pulled into the driveway.
My mom and niece made the trip with us, and the girls had so much fun playing along the way. Thank goodness for DSi's and coloring books! We stopped for pictures at each state line, played in the snow in Tennessee, bounced off the walls in hotels, and made memories that will last forever. After a day of relaxing, we took my mom and niece to the airport for their flight back to Texas (little did we know what a fiasco that would be...). My mom is the best, and I'm not sure we could have made the trip without her!

Today we took Brooke to her new elementary school and registered for classes. She will start tomorrow, and is so excited! Class doesn't start until 8:45, and she was up at 6:00 this morning asking when we could get dressed and go check it out. The office staff was extremely nice, and we were able to tour the school and meet her teacher. They gave us a list of school supplies, so we made a quick trip to the store. One of the stranger items on the list was an empty frosting container. Brooke thought that was the perfect excuse to use her new Easy Bake Oven, so the girls got busy baking while I unloaded our bags.

Bo was feeling left out, so we put him in his booster seat to watch the girls. He was being so silly, growling at me and squealing. Less than a month until his first birthday-where has this year gone?While they were baking, he ate a peach and some crackers. I'm pretty sure that wasn't quite as yummy as their tiny little yellow cakes with chocolate frosting. Their cakes were about the size of a cookie, and took about an hour to make from start to finish...guess that's what happens when you are cooking with a lightbulb!

We used our store-bought frosting to ice the cakes, and then scrubbed the container, labeled it and put it in Brooke's backpack for tomorrow.

I am hoping to have this house completely in order by the weekend, and will share pictures. Rob was here for 3 weeks before we arrived, and was able to set up our furniture and unload most of the boxes. That makes my job so much easier! I spent last weekend moving things around, setting up closets and bedrooms, and organizing the kitchen. The main thing left to work on is the basement, which has been a great play area for the kids. I also need to hang curtains, and at some point we have to tackle the garage. Rob starts back at work tomorrow, and we will be back to our 'normal' routine. We are so glad to all be together again!

Ureter Pyelostomy and Psoas Hitch Surgery-Day 3

2010-09-27T08:57:00.003-04:00

Brooke did really well last night, only waking for morphine. She started asking to get out of bed around 4:30, so she stood up for a while and played her DS. Around 6:30 we turned on the tv for her to watch cartoons, and she fell back asleep. Rob was at the hospital when she woke up, and we all walked down to the cafeteria to find something for breakfast. I picked out some toast with peanut butter, thinking she might eat some, but no luck. She was really tired after all that walking, so we put her in a wheelchair and headed back to the room. Her lower back was still really sore from where they attached her bladder to the psoas muscle, so it seems that she is tiring out more quickly this time.

Dr. Smith came by and checked Brooke's incisions-they still look really good, and have hardly any drainage. She said we could take the catheter out, and wanted us to get Brooke off the morphine-she can't go home on iv meds! We had one of our favorite nurses, and she was really good at working with Brooke to get her to eat a little graham cracker and applesauce so the medicine wouldn't make her sick. She has been switched to lortab, and it seems to keep the pain away longer than the morphine, which is great!

Dr. Smith had the nurses move us to a bigger room, and I was so glad to see sunshine coming in through the windows! Brooke went straight over to the couch and sat there for a good long time. She finally decided to get back into bed, and Rob sent me to the hotel to take a nap and then have a hot shower. I'm so glad he did that-it's amazing what sleep and a hot shower can do for you! While I was gone, the nurse took out Brooke's catheter, took off her incision dressings and let Rob give Brooke a shower. I was impressed-he even washed her hair!

I brought Cracker Barrel back with me, hoping she would finally give in and eat something. She wasn't interested at first, so we took a long walk through the hospital. When we came back to the room she wanted to color, so we set her up at the table with coloring supplies, french toast and applesauce. I told her she had to eat/drink every 5 minutes, and she thought that was a great game. She was really trying to convince us that she is well enough to go home, and even managed to laugh a little without hurting! When she started making silly faces I knew she was feeling better. Here's to a good night of rest!

Ureter Pyelostomy and Psoas Hitch Surgery-Day 2

2010-09-26T19:18:00.003-04:00

Dr. Smith came by around 9:30 for her morning checkup. She wanted to check Brooke's incisions and change the dressings, and I think she has to be one of the best doctor's we've ever had. She let Brooke take off the dressings, peeling the tape really slowly while Dr. Smith put hand sanitizer on it to take away the stickiness...this was at least a 30 minute process. She kept telling Brooke to stop and take breaks, and she thought nothing of it when Brooke requested pictures of her incision so she could see what it looked like. She was happy with the incisions and the draining, and replaced the dressings. She was a little concerned that Brooke has developed a cough, and said her chest sounds really gunky. Anyone that has been through abdominal surgery knows how badly it hurts to cough or sneeze, so Dr. Smith really encouraged Brooke to squeeze a pillow as tight as she can on her tummy and make one productive cough to get this stuff out of her. She said that getting Brooke up and walking should help with that.

As soon as she left, Brooke asked to get up. She walked around her room for a minute, trying on her new robe and slippers, and then asked to take a trip to the playroom. She wasn't feeling very well, so we picked a book to take back to her room. After a little rest time, she asked to walk to the cafeteria. I was really proud of her for making it all the way through the hospital and through the cafeteria, where she picked out a smoothie to drink. By that point she was pretty shaky, so we snagged a wheelchair for the trip back to her room. She was exhausted, so she settled back into bed and took a good nap (and I curled up in the chair to sleep along with her!).

We had one of our favorite nurses in the afternoon, and she was so sweet with Brooke. She said she recognized her name on the chart, and was happy to see Brooke again. She convinced Brooke to get out of bed, and she spent a little time playing on the computer. We also took another walk to the cafeteria, but Brooke still hasn't found anything she can eat.

She is on morphine for pain management, as well as motrin for any swelling and her normal antibiotic to prevent infection. Getting the motrin in her is a huge ordeal, she really doesn't like the taste and it takes a lot of convincing to get her to open her mouth. When I told her it was time for meds earlier, she said 'no thanks' and clamped her mouth shut! At least she still has manners, even if she is hurting. She is finally in bed resting, and Rob is back at the hotel. I've pulled out the chair for the night, and am hoping for a good night for Brooke.

Ureter Pyelostomy and Psoas Hitch Surgery-Day 1

2010-09-25T09:16:00.003-04:00

We had Brooke's follow-up appointment from her Bi-lateral Ureter Reimplantation surgery, and were disappointed to find continued reflux in the left ureter system, and scar tissue causing an obstruction in the right ureter system. Her renal u/s showed significant swelling in her right kidney, so we had no option other than to go back in and fix things.

We arrived at the hospital around 8am yesterday, had Brooke change into her gown, and then let her play for a while in the surgical play area. While she was playing, Rob and I met with the anesthesiologist to discuss our concerns over pain management. I really think she would have had an easier recovery last time if she had woken up comfortable, and there was no way I was going to willingly let her be in that much pain again. The anesthesiologist was great, and agreed to leave the tubing in when they did the initial caudal block, and the redose it after the procedure was finished. She also loaded her iv with morphine and dilaudid, just to make sure she was comfortable.

We were moved to the O.R. holding area, where Dr. Smith met with us to discuss the procedures. The first procedure was a Ureter Pyelostomy to correct the obstructed ureter and allow her kidney to drain. Brooke has two ureters on each side, and the blocked ureter had a tiny opening at the bladder that had healed over with scar tissue. An incision was made just below her rib, above the kidney, and then the obstructed ureter was basically spliced into the good ureter. The second procedure was a Psoas Hitch to correct the reflux on the left side. With the psoas hitch the bladder is pulled up and over and then attached to the psoas muscle in the back, allowing for deeper tunneling of the ureters. The entire procedure was expected to last about 5 hours.

Brooke was given a dose of versed to help her relax, and she was acting so silly! She kept covering her face with her pillow and then looking at us and giggling. At one point she sat up and was laughing hysterically, telling me to look at her ears (that were covered with a surgical cap!). They rolled her into the O.R. and Rob and I began our long day of waiting. We took a trip to the cafeteria for a coffee, and then settled in at the family waiting room. We were prepared this time, and brought our laptops-cruising the internet can be good stress relief!

The surgery started around 10:30, and was finished at 5:00...a little longer than expected, but her doctor is very pleased with the results. She said the ureter portion of the procedure was 'textbook perfect'. When she got into the bladder, she discovered that the right ureters had retracted after the reimplantation surgery. She said that can be a side effect of the bladder spasms and is not uncommon. She said Brooke has a very healthy bladder, and she was able to stabilize it against the psoas muscle. She also routed the ureters along that muscle for extra stability.

Rob and I were both able to go into the recovery room (Brooke was the only patient left since it was so late in the afternoon) and Brooke looked so much better than after the first surgery. She was in and out of sleep, and able to move a little. She received 3 doses of morphine, and then was transferred to her room around 6:45 that evening. The nurses scrubbed Chimpy in for the surgery, and Brooke woke up with her monkey right by her side.

We had a really good night, she slept a lot and received morphine every 2 hours to stay on top of the pain. The only discomfort she has is when she coughs or moves too much. She remembers having bed sores last time, so she has been switching from her back to her side every time she gets meds or vitals. This is the view from our hospital room, and to our surprise, construction continues on the weekend...starting around 6:30am. We may change rooms this afternoon if possible-the noise really bothers Brooke.

The playroom is supposed to be open today, and Brooke is hoping to go check it out. Her doctor should be in sometime this morning to change her dressings, and then she will be clear to start sitting up and walking around. Looking forward to a good day with minimal pain for our Fancy Pants.

Keeping Busy

2010-07-13T12:51:00.002-04:00

It doesn't seem like it should already be the middle of July...this summer is flying by! Now that Brooke is recovered, we have been keeping busy. We have spent lots of time at the pool. There is a really great pool on base that the girls enjoy swimming at. It is a zero-entry pool on one side, with buckets and waterfalls to play under. The other side is about 4 feet deep, and Brooke is finally able to swim in that area with no life jacket!

Bo also loves to swim! He will lay on his belly (on top of my arms) and kick his little legs. He looks like a little motor boat, kicking around the pool! He usually gets tired and takes a nap in the shade, while I watch the girls play in the shallow end.
We have also spent a lot of time paying outside. Brooke made us a daily schedule (yes, she takes after me!) and every morning we have outside play in the front yard. After about 10:30 it is way too hot out for the kids, so we head out as soon as Bo goes down for his morning nap. Sometimes we fly kites, sometimes we skate or ride bikes. We almost always see our neighbors and their dog outside, and they are very sweet to let the girls cut fresh flowers off their rose bushes.
We have also spent time with family. Grandpa and Nana had all the cousins stay with them for a week this summer-they called it Cousin Camp. Brooke and Bethany didn't go this year (Brooke was still recovering), but they are already looking forward to next year. We went to Austin the last night of Cousin Camp so the girls could play, and they had a blast!
We spent the 4th of July in College Station, playing with even more cousins. We are so grateful to be back in Texas and close to family while the kids are young. Rob and I both grew up spending lots of time with our extended family, so it's fun to watch our kids make memories with their grandparents and cousins.

A Bouncing Baby Boy

2010-06-22T12:48:00.002-04:00

Bo loves to jump, it's almost like he has springs in his feet! If we are holding him, he likes to be standing on our laps, bouncing up and down. When we arrived at the hotel in Lubbock, we realized there wasn't really anything for him to do. We didn't bring any of his big toys with us, and I was NOT letting him roll around on the ground, so we went to the store and bought a jumper that hangs from a doorframe. I have always been afraid of these, picturing a freak accident where the doorframe breaks and my baby falls to the ground. Rob just rolled his eyes when I told him that, and set it up for Bo to try out. As expected, he LOVED it!

I put him in it this morning while I was cleaning the kitchen, and he bounced for over an hour. He is so funny to watch, he just grins and laughs the whole time. Every few minutes he takes a little break to just hang out and swing around, and then he gets right back to bouncing. He was hungry after jumping around, and fell asleep while eating. All that jumping is a lot of work for a bouncing baby boy!

Father's Day

2010-06-21T09:16:00.002-04:00

Grandpa and Nana came for a quick visit this weekend. Saturday evening we went downtown to eat Mexican food and then take a little walk. We attempted watching a movie that night, but we were so exhausted that we all ended up falling asleep. Sunday we went to out for brunch, and then took a couple of quick pictures before Grandpa and Nana left. Here is our family on Father's Day:
And three generations of Bennett boys:

Rob had picked his gift out a few weeks ago, so the girls made him cards to go with it. Brooke has started adding subliminal messages to her cards...she said something about watching Toy Story 3, which Rob thought was a great idea. He took the little ladies to the movies while Bo and I stayed home...he napped, I cleaned house. They had a lot of fun, other than Brooke getting uncomfortable towards the end. They were so excited to tell me about the movie when they got home.

Brooke continues to do well during the day, and is moving around like she never had surgery. Her incision is not hurting as much, and is now starting to itch. We told her that's a good thing because it means it is healing...it has to heal before she can swim, so that made her happy! She still has no bladder control and lots of pain when using the restroom. She has been in pull-ups since we've been home, because it is impossible for her to make it to the bathroom in time. We still aren't getting much sleep-why is it that you hurt so much more at night? She literally spends hours crying and moaning while trying to get comfortable in bed. I think she would feel tons better if she could get a good night of sleep, and now that our company is gone our house should be calmer during the day in case she wants to nap.

Feeling Better Every Day

2010-06-18T14:51:00.002-04:00

Brooke has been doing really well-she is totally off pain meds and slowly returning to 'normal'. She is still having pain when using the bathroom, and she gets worn out by early evening, but she has improved so much in the last couple of days. She has finally started eating again, and managed to down an entire grilled cheese last night (minus the crust). Nights are still really hard, she spends a lot of time moaning and crying, so we aren't getting much sleep. I think she may be overdoing it a bit during the day, and then hurting at night-if only I could convince her to take a nap! My mom brought Bethany home on Tuesday, and stayed with us for the rest of the week to help out.

Rob was off Wednesday, and he was nice enough to watch the kids for a couple of hours while I had a much needed break. My mom and I did a little shopping (it doesn't take long at our tiny mall-ha!) and I got my hair cut. We had fun and came home feeling refreshed.

Brooke was getting stir-crazy, so we all ventured out of the house yesterday. We went to the store to pick out a present for a birthday party this weekend, and then had lunch at Outback (Brooke's favorite). It was nice to be out and about...the fresh air was good for all of us.

Bethany is Back!

2010-06-15T23:19:00.003-04:00

There is no place like home, and no place better to sleep than your own bed. We weren't technically in our own beds, but the playroom bed was much more comfortable than the hospital. Brooke slept well last night, only getting up a couple of times to go to the bathroom. She was moaning a lot in her sleep, and her incision was bothering her quite a bit. She was up for the day at 7:00, and spent some time with Rob and Bo while I slept a few extra hours.

She has done really well today, and it is getting easier for her to move around. She spent some time at the table putting together a candy jewelry set that our pastor sent to the hospital, she sat at the table in the computer room to color and she even managed to sit down on the floor to read some books. At this point, her recovery is very much like mine was after having a c-section, so she has a lot of sympathy from me! We have to be careful not to make her laugh, because that really hurts. We've had to turn off a few movies that were just too funny to watch without her crying. She still prefers to stand up, as that is more comfortable for her incision, and getting her settled into bed is a bit tricky. We used 6 pillows last night to get her into a position that wasn't painful. She is still having a lot of pain when she needs to use the restroom, which is to be expected. As far as pain meds, she is down to only Tylenol and Ditropan (the Ditropan she has been on for the last 6 months and helps with bladder spasms).

This afternoon Bethany came home, and we were so excited to see her. We have never been away from the girls for more than a night, so I was anxious about sending Bethany to Moo Moo's house for a week. Turns out I worried for nothing-she had a blast! She went shopping, played with cousins, spent time at the pool and was spoiled rotten by two sets of grandparents. She said she didn't miss us, only her baby, and was disappointed that Bo was sleeping when she got here. As soon as he woke up she wanted to hold him, and told me to make him a bottle so she could feed him. Brooke was pretty worn out this evening, and was starting to hurt again. I laid down with her while she fell asleep, and then watched a little tv with Moo Moo. She will be staying for a few days to help us out while Brooke continues to heal-we love it when my mom comes to take care of us!

Ureter Reimplantation-Day 4...We're Home!

2010-06-14T21:26:00.003-04:00

Brooke had a really good night, even if we didn't get much sleep. She was still receiving iv fluids, and had to get up pretty frequently to use the bathroom. I think we spent more time in there than we did in bed! She managed to drink two small containers of apple juice when it was time for meds, which was great since she hadn't had much of anything to drink. She woke up at 6:30 this morning, and after a trip to the bathroom, she sat up in bed criss-cross-applesauce and started watching tv. She was smiling and talking, and feeling really good. A doctor came in at 7:30 to check on her, and asked if she wanted to go home-she was THRILLED, I was nervous. She was still in significant pain when her meds wore off, and I wasn't sure how she would do on the trip home (a three hour drive). I finally decided they weren't really doing anything in the hospital that we can't do at home, and the idea of sleeping in our own beds tonight was too hard to pass up. Dr. Smith was in surgery, but he said she would be up in about an hour for the final check before discharging us. He removed the drain tube from Brooke's incision, and then her nurse disconnected her iv so she could get dressed. I had packed nightgowns and dresses for her (I think it will be a while before she is comfortable with shorts around her waist or rubbing against her incision) and once she was dressed we walked to the cafeteria to get me a cup of coffee-I was beyond tired.
We called Rob to tell him we were being discharged, and then started packing up our room. Rob and Bo arrived around 9:30 and we were in the van leaving the hospital by 9:45. It was a bit tricky getting Brooke comfortable in her carseat, especially with the straps being right on her incision. I finally decided to tuck a small pillow between her and the straps, and told Rob he better drive carefully-precious cargo! I gave her a workbook to keep her occupied on the drive, and she made it about 2 hours before she was uncomfortable. We stopped to give her meds and she was able to take a little nap for the rest of the trip.
We got home and Brooke went straight to the bathroom. I asked her what I could get for her, and she said her Littlest Pet Shops-not exactly what I expected, but I was glad she was feeling well enough to play. She said she needed to play with her toys before Bethany gets home and she has to share them again-smart girl. She still has a lot of incision pain when sitting down or moving around too much, so it took her a while to figure out the best place to set up her toys. Getting down on the floor seemed scary, so she set her toys on the couch and then sat on her knees beside them. Rob unloaded the van while I was getting her settled, and then he told me to go take a nap. I slept for three hours before he woke me up-I didn't realize how tired I really was.

Brooke had a small bowl of cereal for dinner, and then I gave her a bath. I had given her several sponge baths throughout the night when we would change her pads, but I really wanted her to sit down and soak in some warm water. We only put a little water in the tub, just enough to come right below her incision. I gave her the washcloth so she could be in charge and not worry about me rubbing to hard and hurting her. Her incision is still dripping a little where the drain was removed this morning, so I wanted to make sure it was cleaned before going to bed for the night. We got her in a nightgown and settled on the couch with some goldfish and water, and she asked to watch a movie. She stayed laying down for about 15 minutes before saying it hurt too much and she needed to stand up, which is where she is now.
Her and I will be sleeping in the playroom bed tonight. That bed is the lowest in the house, so it should be easier for her to get in and out of, and there is a bathroom attached so we won't have to walk very far when she needs to go. Rob will have Bo duty again, and seems to be looking forward to it. I have been shocked at how well my boys have done together the last few days-I was really worried about Rob being on his own at night with Bo. Brooke didn't really want Bo around much while she was in the hospital, so they only came for a couple of short visits each day. Rob says they've bonded-ha! Bo is asleep in my arms right now, and I sure have missed him-I think I've kissed his little cheeks and forehead a million times while we've been sitting here. Moo Moo is bringing Bethany home tomorrow, so I'm hoping Brooke gets a good night of sleep before chaos returns!

Ureter Reimplantation-Day 3

2010-06-13T22:46:00.003-04:00

Brooke was ready for bed around 11:00 last night, which happened to also be time for more pain meds. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to keep them down, so she was given a dose of zofran in her iv and then a redose of the pain meds, which really helped her relax and sleep. She had the best night so far, sleeping from 12:30 to 6:30, and then got right out of bed and walked to the bathroom. She wasn't ready to get back in bed, so she sat up in a chair for an hour. She was getting a little shaky, so I asked if she was okay. She asked how long she had been sitting, and said she was trying for 3 hours because that is how long it will take sitting in her carseat to get home. She is doing anything and everything she can think of to convince her nurses and doctor she is ready to be discharged. Her nurse was surprised to see her up already, and took advantage of her good mood to change her bandages and remove the catheter. Her incision is still looking really good, and her doctor plans to remove the drain tube tomorrow. She was having some pain when the catheter tubing was moved, so she was happy to finally have it out.

Her doctor came by, and warned us that she will need to potty frequently, and may have several accidents as her bladder is still having spasms. Brooke has been working really hard today, trying her best to make it to the bathroom in time. We have spent the majority of the day walking to the bathroom, sitting for 20 minutes, walking to the bed, standing for a few minutes, and then back to the bathroom. She did really well all morning, but by the afternoon she was in pain again. At one point I brought a chair into the bathroom, and she was sitting on the potty with her head in my lap resting...poor little girl! It was getting harder to walk, and she was starting to stay hunched over and barely shuffling her feet. I couldn't figure out why she refused to get in bed and rest, until I noticed a few little bumps on her bottom. Turns out she is getting some bed sores. We are going to be limiting her time on her back, and turning her every couple of hours to keep any pressure of her sores-the last thing we need is for them to get any worse. They are currently like little blisters on her bottom, and already uncomfortable. She was very irritable, asking us to turn out the lights and take Bo away (he was playing and talking). Rob left, and she continued to complain about noise, specifically the baby in the room next to us. He had been crying ALL DAY LONG, and it was driving her crazy, so her nurses moved us to a new room. We are now in a family suite, which is twice the size of her previous room and has a fold-out couch for me to sleep on...so much better than a chair! She was finally able to rest a bit, and woke up feeling much better. Rob and Bo came back for another visit, and Brooke's nurse suggested she walk to the cafeteria to find something to eat. Three popsicles, two grapes and a tiny bite of ice cream is all she has eaten since her surgery, and she has to start eating and drinking before we can leave.

She picked out a personal pan cheese pizza and a strawberry-banana smoothie, and actually managed to eat almost an entire slice of her pizza (she didn't touch the smoothie). She had been out of bed for almost three hours at the point, and still would not sit down because of the sores on her bottom. Rob and Bo left for the night, and I told her it was time to get in bed. She refused, saying she was going to stand up and sleep. She started having more bladder spasms, and was very uncomfortable. I pulled a chair into the bathroom again to sit with her, and she started crying while I was gone. She said, "Mommy, it really makes me hurt when you are gone. I hurt when you aren't holding my hand or holding my tummy. That's what the problem is here, you can't leave me alone." That was the first time she has cried with tears through this entire hospital stay, and she was shaking and really upset. Of course the shaking made her incision hurt, and she was a mess. I managed to get her out of the bathroom and back to her bed, but she was so wiped out that she just bent forward over the foot of the bed and refused to move. Her nurse came in with more pain meds (and Zofran just in case), and helped me get her comfortable.

She is on her knees, with her upper body propped up by a stack of pillows...basically feels exactly like she is laying over the foot of the bed still. She seems to be sleeping comfortably right now, and I really hope she stays that way. Now that the catheter is removed, we will need to change out her bed pads and clean her up throughout the night, and I'm praying she will sleep soundly enough that we don't totally wake her up each time. Her nurse will be back at 12:30 (about an hour from now) to check vitals and we will do the first clean up then...I'm reallly hoping she goes right back to sleep...she has had a long day!

Ureter Reimplantation-Day 2

2010-06-12T21:12:00.002-04:00

Brooke slept until about 11:30 last night, and then woke up in a lot of pain. She spent most of the night fighting bladder spasms, and it was miserable. She had another reaction to one of her meds, and started itching all over again. This reaction wasn't as severe as the first one, and her doctor thinks it may have simply been a 'rebound reaction'. Her oxygen level stayed low, so she remained on the nasal cannula most of the night. At one point I noticed blood on her hands, and realized she had rubbed her nose raw, so she was switched to a blow by oxygen tube. She was awake until 6:30 this morning, and I tried several things to keep her comfortable and distracted from the pain. We watched a movie, read a book and found some lullabies to listen to. She was exhausted and hurting, but still had a hard time falling asleep. Just as she would nod off, her body would twitch, causing her to wake up...and start the cycle all over. She managed to get two good hours of sleep before her morning nurse came into check on her. I slept about an hour last night.

Dr. Smith came by this morning, and said Brooke looks really good, given the circumstances. She ordered a suppository to help her intestines start moving, asked the nurse to change the bandages on the incision, and said that she wanted Brooke to sit in a chair at some point today. We decided to tackle the suppository and new bandage at the same time, and Brooke asked if Rob and I could take off the tape around her incision instead of the nurse. We got some gloves and went to work...she was very brave and only cried a little at the end where the tape was extra sticky. We were able to see her incision for the first time, and it looks really good. It is about 4 inches long, and there is a drain tube coming out the middle. She has internal stitches as well as steri-strips, and there is little swelling and bruising. Once the bandage was changed the nurse administered the suppository and we let her rest for a while.

Bo was ready for a nap, so Rob took him back to the hotel to rest and watch the soccer game. I snoozed a little in the chair beside Brooke, and she slept for a little over an hour. When she woke up she was inconsolable, and still had 30 minutes before she could have pain meds, so she squeezed my arm really tight and we both sat watching the clock...longest 30 minutes of my life. The nurse came in to give her meds, and reminded her that she would have to sit up in a chair after they started working. Brooke was not happy to hear that, and said she wasn't going to leave the bed...unfortunately for her, she threw up right after taking her meds, and had no choice but to sit in a chair to be cleaned up and have her bed linens changed.
I helped carry her to the chair, and after getting situated she started feeling much better. Brooke said she thought she'd go home now, since she is able to sit up and should be able to get in her carseat for the ride home...she is ready to leave the hospital. Her stomach is very bloated and becoming hard, so it was good to have her up and getting the gas to move around. I gave her a sponge bath and brushed her teeth, and then she sat up for a few minutes while we changed her sheets. We noticed a lot of blood on the pad she had been sleeping on, and discovered her catheter has been leaking. Her bladder was very swollen after surgery, so a tiny catheter tube was used...as the swelling has gone down, the tube is too small, so urine/blood is leaking out around it. It doesn't really cause any problems, and the catheter should be removed in the morning, so we are just going to leave it and keep an eye on it for the night. She quickly grew tired of sitting, so we had her walk the two steps over to her bed, and then got her settled.

She was given a new pillowcase and a new blanket by the hospital, so we got those out when we changed her linens. We kept the head of the bed raised so she would still be sitting up a bit, and once she was tucked into her blankets she crashed. She slept almost 2 hours straight, with only a little moaning and whimpering. Rob and Bo arrived just as she was waking up, and she was in really good spirits when she saw them. She wanted me to bring Bo over, and she held his hand and talked to him for a minute. This was such a relief, because earlier today she insisted he could not be in the room with her-his cooing and talking was bothering her too much. She told Rob about sitting in the chair, and then decided to show him how she could do it. She was so proud of herself, and we even convinced her to walk about 12 feet to the door of her room and then back to her bed. She is now resting, trying to pick out a movie to watch. Rob is helping her while I'm feeding Bo, and then they are going back to the hotel for the night. I am optimistic that tonight will be much smoother than last night...it most certainly can't be any worse.

Ureter Reimplantation-Day 1

2010-06-11T21:55:00.004-04:00

We arrived at the hospital at 6am, and checked in at the surgery pavilion. We were taken to a room where Brooke was changed into a hospital gown and had her vital signs checked. They had a special puppy pillow waiting for her, which she thought was really cool!
Once her doctor arrived, we were taken back to the holding area. We met with her nurses and the anesthesiologist, and went over the procedure one last time. Brooke thought it was fun to wear a special hat like the doctors! At 8:45 she was wheeled off to the O.R. and we were taken to the waiting room.

The procedure was estimated to last 2.5-3 hours. Brooke was given some gas to knock her out, and then they started an iv and inserted a breathing tube. She was given a caudal block (similar to an epidural, numbing the pelvis region) to help with pain management post op as well as during the procedure. Her case was more complicated than expected, and ended up taking 5.5 hours to complete. After much tedious work, her doctor was able to successfully reimplant all 4 ureters, and was very pleased with the results. We thought we were never going to leave the waiting room...thankfully, this little guy was happy to entertain us!

After the surgery, Dr. Smith came out to talk to us and show us pictures of how the repair went. By that time, Brooke had woken up and was waiting in recovery. We were able to go back one at a time, so we took turns sitting with her. She was very uncomfortable, and received a few injections of morphine in her iv. She was also having problems keeping her oxygen levels up, so they started her on a nasal cannula. About an hour later she was moved to the second floor and into her room. She was having bladder spasms at this time, and received more morphine as well as a suppository pain med to help make her more comfortable.

After a few minutes of rest, she was semi-awake and in a lot of pain. Each bladder spasm took her breath away, and I felt like I was coaching a woman through a contration during childbirth.
She would squeeze my hand really tightly, while moaning with her eyes frantically searching the room. I had to remind her to keep breathing and had to hold her arms down so she wouldn't tear at her incision or catheter. Between spasms she was more relaxed, and actually asked me to bring Bo over to see her at one point.

Brooke has been on antibiotics for several months, and will remain on them until we have follow-up testing showing the surgery has been successful. She received a dose while in surgery, and another after she was moved to her room. I noticed that her face was getting blotchy, and she started complaining of itchiness. She was also doing a weird movement with her tongue, sticking it out and wiggling it around. She said it felt weird, and that's when we started worrying about a reaction to one of her meds. Her anesthesiologist came by and stopped her morphine, but the itchiness continued to spread to her hands and legs. Dr. Smith came by and ordered benadryl and stopped the suppositories. The thought is that one of them is the culprit, so we will be switching both to hopefully avoid any more reactions.

Brooke is sleeping, and has been for the past hour. We tried taking off the oxygen, but her level dropped back down into the 80s so she'll keep it on for the night. They are closely monitoring her catheter, making sure her ureters are working and that her bladder doesn't have any extra pressure on it. She also has a drain tube in her incision, covered by the bandages, helping to relieve any pressure. She has been running a low grade fever (around 100), which is common after surgery, but we are hoping it goes away soon. I'm staying at the hospital tonight, and Rob is at the hotel with Bo...hoping we both get at least a little sleep tonight!

Graduation Day!

2010-06-03T12:00:00.009-04:00

School is out for the summer!

Brooke had her Kindergarten Graduation last Friday, and it was too cute! The kids sang three songs ("Deep in the Heart of Texas" was Brooke's favorite), received a certificate from Ms. Helfer and then had a cookie and lemonade reception. Here are a few pictures:

Walking into the gym before the ceremony started.

Laughing with her friend, Jolie.

Singing one of the songs.

She is really going to miss her teacher, Ms. Helfer. She was the perfect kindergarten teacher for Brooke-definite answer to prayer!

Our family, after the graduation. It was so hot in the gym, and we were all ready for a drink!

Brooke and Bethany enjoying cookies and lemonade, with a few of Brooke's school friends.

No refreshments for Bo, although he was eyeing them up!

As soon as Brooke's graduation was finished, we loaded up the van and drove to College Station. My youngest sister, Morgan, graduated from high school that evening. She actually finished school in December, and has been attending Blinn since January-it's hard to believe she is growing up!

Our family before leaving the house. Bo was worn out, so we didn't wake him for the picture (but I did wake him a few minutes later to buckle him into his carseat).

All the girls!

Some of my favorite quotes from the night:

Bethany (after Morgan crossed the stage and went back to her seat)-'Does Morgan have to sit down there until her mommy and daddy come get her?'

Brooke (after being shown Morgan's name in the program by my aunt)-'Hey, that's the same Morgan we know!"

Bo woke up and was happy to look around at all the people.
With the graduate! Bo fell asleep half-way through the ceremony...we really need to work on him being awake for pictures!

An Evening of Dance

2010-05-16T17:41:00.003-04:00

Bethany has been taking dance classes this year, and has loved them! She has decided she wants to be a dance teacher when she grows up, which is surprising since she's been talking about being a nurse and giving people shots for two years now. The Civic Ballet put on An Evening of Dance, and we went with our friends, Alyson and Sophie. They had us over for dinner before the show started, and we made it to the river stage right as the sun went down.

As we were watching the dancers, a cold front blew through, and the girls were freezing. It was also WAY past their bedtimes, and this picture pretty much sums up Brooke's feelings on the night...she was not impressed.

We left a little after intermission, and these girls barely made it home before passing out. Poor Sophie was exhausted!

Weekend Projects

2010-04-18T22:48:00.006-04:00

One afternoon I stumbled upon a website that has furniture plans for several of my favorite stores, and immediately I had projects for Rob. He really enjoys woodworking and building things, so he was excited when I showed him my list.

The first project was a new bench for the bar in our kitchen. I have a set of stools that belonged to my great-grandmother, and I had sanded them down, refinished the tops and distressed them. I loved the way they looked, but they weren't very sturdy and the girls were falling off of them, so we needed something new. Rob built this bench for me while we were away for Easter, and then finished it the same as the barstools, with the stained bottom and barn red top. I still need to do some distressing, but I love the way it turned out!

The next project was new bookshelves for the playroom. The girls have way too many toys, and they are slowly taking over the room, so I was wanting something I could stack containers into, add buckets or baskets, have room for odd shaped items, etc. Here is me doing my part, painting. I refuse to let Rob do any painting, I am way too picky about it, so we've learned it's just better for both of us if I do that part! I decided to use the same blue that is in Bo's bedroom, because it matches the bedding in all of the kids rooms-no matter where we move next, it can go in any bedroom and match perfectly!

Here is Rob adding the final trim, and if you look to the left you will see bookshelf number two...because I was sure I would love the first one and want another.

I can't wait to have these finished, and in the playroom filled with toys...hopefully I will finish painting them tomorrow.
And because I didn't think those were enough projects for Rob, I also requested a child-size picnic table for the backyard. The girls love having their snacks outside, and now that the weather is getting warmer I've realized that they have outgrown their small plastic picnic table. Rob knocked it out in no time, with a little help from the little ladies. They were too funny bringing Bo 'protective goggles' to wear while we were watching him work!

Almost finished, just need one more coat of paint and it will be perfect! Here is Rob enjoying his handiwork...I think he's a little too big for this table though!

Spring Break

2010-03-21T23:41:00.007-04:00

Rob spent most of the last week in Maryland, leaving us on our own for Spring Break. We didn't have anything big planned, just hanging out at the house, so he didn't miss too much! Here is our week in review:

I have been working on my spring cleaning list, and quickly discovered that this was not the week for crossing chores off. Way too much commotion with the girls home, and way too many little messes to even think about doing any deep cleaning! However, I did manage to finish a few small tasks during one of our rain days, while my little man tagged along in the sling. He was so cozy in there, sleeping away while I worked.

We took this crazy dog to the vet. That he is terrified of. In the pouring rain. With three kids. It was as much fun as it sounds.

The sun finally came out, and we spent an entire day playing and running around in the backyard. We have had some unpredictable weather lately, warm one day and cold the next, so we took full advantage of the sunshine! Even Bo got to come out and enjoy the fresh air.

I lost track of how many loads of laundry we did...these girls can go through some clothes! Can you find the sleeping baby hiding on the bed? The girls played 'dress up' and 'baby doll' and 'friends' until they were exhausted. Bethany barely made it to the couch before she passed out! It was about this point that I noticed the girls had traded outfits. Brooke was hot and Bethany was cold, so they just switched clothes...they must have remembered me complaining about all of the laundry.

We had some serious conversations with Bo, mostly consisting of "Oooooohhhhh" and "Aaaahhhh". Brooke is convinced he said 'Mom', and as much as I would love to believe her, I'm thinking that didn't really happpen.

As part of Brooke's pre-surgery prep, we are having her go to the bathroom every 2 hours (trying to keep her bladder empty). She was taking a while to come back after one trip, so I sent Bethany to check on her (I was feeding Bo). When she didn't come back I knew they were up to something, and I was right...they found my eye shadow and decided to try it out on Bethany's face. They thought she looked beautiful...I wasn't so sure.

Baby Bo learned a new trick...he can smile! There is nothing sweeter than his big gummy grin. I had my camera nearby and was able to catch a pic of his second or third little smile, but haven't caught the big 'melt-your-heart-smile' yet.

Brooke had a sick day, waking up with a high fever and feeling miserable. She was burning up and spent most of the day curled up on the couch. We had to miss out on lunch with friends, but, lucky for us, Daddy came home a few hours later!

This little guy started sleeping at night...he can't resist the swaddle blanket. We switched formulas with good results, his face is clearing up, he's spitting up less, and he's sleeping more! Only waking once a night (around 4am) is soooooo nice!

We ended the weekend with some yardwork, trying to get the weeds pulled and the beds cleared before it's too hot to be working outside. It's hard to believe we were just clearing the yard for grass and flower beds this time last year...how time flies!

And while we worked, sweet Bo slept. He was curled up in a nest of blankets in his bouncy seat, tucked away on the porch, safe from this wild West Texas wind.

These Three

2010-03-16T21:20:00.002-04:00

These three make me smile!

I snapped this picture during our bedtime routine tonight, right after Brooke asked if Bo could sleep with them...she even offered to feed him in the middle of the night. He was nice and cozy between his big sisters, and they were disappointed when I vetoed their little sleep over plans. Judging by the laughter I still hear coming out of the bedroom (30 minutes later), I think they got over it pretty quickly!

Urology Appointment Update

2010-03-12T13:51:00.003-05:00

About a year and a half ago, Brooke was diagnosed with Vesicoureteral Reflux (VUR), or kidney reflux as it is more commonly called. After several UTIs and kidney infections, with the last landing her in the hospital for a week, we were happy to have a diagnosis and plan of action. We have been meeting with her urologist every 4-6 months, continually monitoring her condition and doing follow-up tests to ensure there is no more damage to Brooke's kidneys.

Yesterday was time for another check-up, starting with a VCUG scheduled around noon. Brooke and I left our house around 8, hoping to make it to Lubbock in time for an early lunch at Cracker Barrel (her favorite restaurant). As we were eating, she started getting nervous, and I can't say I blame her. It is an invasive test for a 5 year-old, involving a catheter and lots of x-rays...not fun at all. This is the third time she's had the procedure done, and she burst into tears as soon as the nurses entered the room. It took her a few minutes to calm down, but then she did an awesome job! She laid still throughout the procedure and even told me later that it didn't hurt too badly. I was so thankful for a kind nurse and an understanding x-ray tech. They really helped calm her fears and took excellent care of her (and she was thrilled with the stickers and suckers they gave her!). I watched the test on the screen, and was disappointed to see that her reflux had not improved, and actually appeared a bit worse.

We had an appointment scheduled with her urologist for that afternoon, and I was anxious to get Brooke's test results. We have been fortunate to have Dr. Smith as our doctor, she has been very supportive in exhausting every treatment option before requiring surgery. Our hope has been that she would simply outgrow the reflux (which is very common), and her doctor has said "as a surgeon, I love to operate, but not on kids that don't need to be cut open". When she pulled up the images from yesterday's VCUG I could tell we were getting bad news. Her face dropped a little, and she told me the reflux was definitely worse, and needed to be fixed. At this point, surgery is our only option.

During the procedure, the ureters will be reimplanted further into the bladder muscle, preventing urine from refluxing back up into the kidneys. If all goes well, the reflux will be gone and there should be no further damage to Brooke's kidneys (she currently has swelling and decreased function on one side). We have scheduled the surgery for June 11, with a pre-op ultrasound scheduled for June 10, and we expect Brooke to be in the hospital for 3 days afterwards. The post-op sounds similar to a c-section...she will have a small incision above the pubic bone, a catheter and ureter drain to keep pressure off her bladder, and most likely an epidural for pain management. Recovery time is typically 2-4 weeks, and Dr. Smith said that the biggest concern is bladder spasms that can be very painful.

While we were in the office, I noticed that Brooke's cheeks were flushed. The nurse took her temp and she was at 99.6, so a little warm. An hour later her temp had increased to 100.8 and her urine sample confirmed that she had a uti. Perfect timing, right? If we had any doubts about the surgery being necessary, they were gone at that point.

Brooke knows the basics about the surgery, and we've told her she can ask any questions or talk about it with us whenever she wants. She only had two questions yesterday, "will it hurt?" and "it's like I'm having a c-section, but I WILL NOT have a baby, right?". With the surgery being done early in the summer, she should be fully recovered before her birthday and still have plenty of time for hanging out at the pool before starting first grade-important stuff at her age!

Family Resemblance

2010-03-09T19:30:00.003-05:00

While I was pregnant, we would talk about what we thought Bo would look like. Bethany said she hoped he would have pink hair (so glad that didn't happen!) and Brooke said she wanted him to look just like her. I joked that after having a Little Rob and a Little Missy, he would probably be a mut, with a mix of both our features.

The conversation of 'who does Bo look like?' has continued since the minute we saw him. I caught a quick glimpse of him before he was taken out of the operating room to be put on oxygen, and my first thought was that he looked like Brooke. All I saw was his dark hair and wrinkly forehead, and instantly pictured Brooke as a baby. Here she was at 6 weeks:

When they finally brought him to my room (about 4 hours later) I took one look at him and decided he looked just like Bethany! He had her fuzzy hair, light eyebrows, tiny mouth and the exact same nose. Here she was at 6 weeks:

I'm pretty sure we got our mut (but he's the cutest little mut I've ever seen!). He has Brooke's eyes and forehead, and so far seems to have a similar personality as well. Pretty much everything else reminds me of Bethany, but every now and then I look at him and see nothing but Rob-so weird since Bethany and Rob look nothing alike. Here is baby Bo earlier this morning, at exactly 6 weeks:

Photo Shoot

2010-03-08T21:26:00.008-05:00

A friend from church asked if our girls would be willing to model some of her products for a spring photo shoot advertising her business, Dimples & Dots (check out her cute stuff at http://dimplesdots.blogspot.com/ ). Bethany spends most days playing dress-up anyway, so she was really excited! Brooke was a little worried about keeping her eyes open for pictures (her eyes are really sensitive to camera flashes) but it ended up being an overcast day, which worked out perfectly...no need for a flash, no weird shadows and no hot weather. Here are a few snapshots another friend took while the professional photographer was working.

These girls were ready for their tea party!

What little girl doesn't love a tutu...or better yet, a tutu dress?

Love the green hat and purple flower on Bethany, we might need one of those!
Bo came with us, and spent the afternoon snoozing.

Seriously, he is the best baby ever!

Tea Time With Bethany

2010-03-02T10:39:00.003-05:00

I was invited to a tea party yesterday, hosted by Ms. Bethany. She found the party supply drawer and set us each a place at a barstool with fancy Dora napkins and plates, topped off with a snack of club crackers and applesauce.

I'm not a big fan of drinkable yogurt, so she let me bring my Pepsi. We sat down to eat, and had a great time until I asked for a refill of my pretend tea.

That's when I noticed the zhu zhu hamster hiding in the teapot! Bethany was laughing hysterically at the silly trick she played on me...such a stinker!

She was so proud of herself for slipping him in there while I wasn't looking, and kept asking if I wanted a 'refill of hamster tea'. That's Bethany, our silly little girl!

Stats

2010-03-01T09:09:00.004-05:00

This picture was taken last Friday, at exactly one month...little Bo is still a peanut.

Weight: 8 lbs 11 oz (26%tile)

Length: 21 inches (33%tile)

We had his one month checkup, and his pediatrician said he thinks Bo will be 'short and stocky' (his words, not mine) like his dad. He's a church friend, so I guess he can say that, although Rob would have preferred 'broad' or 'muscular' instead of stocky. Bo gained almost one pound during the first month, which was quite the accomplishment considering all the feeding problems we had. He never really figured out how to nurse, and after losing way too much weight we switched him over to formula. It was not an easy decision, but he is healthy now and that is our goal...a happy, healthy baby!

Brooke informed me that Bo is kind of lazy...she is looking forward to him being a little older so they can play. He is eating every 2.5-3 hours, and spends most of the time between feedings sleeping. The most exciting thing he does right now is sit in his bouncy seat and stare at us while we talk to him. The girls recently found the toy bar that goes across the bouncy seat, and insisted we try it out-I think they were more entertained by it than Bo was! He seems to be a little more alert every day, and we are on the lookout for the first little smiles and coos that should be coming in the next few weeks!

Bo William-One Month

2010-02-25T15:34:00.008-05:00

Baby Bo is one month old today, but it feels like he has been here forever! He is such a sweet little boy, and we have enjoyed getting to know him over the past few weeks. He looks at us with a very serious gaze and has started searching for our faces when he hears us talking. And he is starting to be more alert during the day, which I'm hoping will lead to more sleep at night! For some reason he thinks 3am is time to start the day...we're working on that!Brooke and Bethany love their little brother, and fight over who gets to hold him when he is awake. Bethany likes to pick out his clothes in the morning (which explains why he wears his tie onesies so much-she likes him fancy!) and insists that he always wear socks and crib shoes. She is my helper during the day, talking to Bo while he is in his swing or bouncer, running to grab diapers or a paci for me and occassionally helping hold a bottle when he is hungry.Brooke asks for Bo the minute she gets home from school, and is happy to hold him as long as he is not fussy...as soon as he gets squirmy she hands him back to me! She has one of his birth announcements in her backpack so her friends can check out her new brother, and she told me the lunch ladies want to see him so she might need a picture for her lunchbox-too funny! We have spent most of the last month on house arrest, as ordered by our pediatrician, trying to stay away from any sick germs. We did make an exception for Bethany's 4th birthday party, but Bo slept through the entire thing, nestled in his carseat and tucked in the corner away from all the kiddos. We are looking forward to spring and warmer weather...this staying home stuff is making us all a little stir crazy!

Mother's Day Out

2009-09-15T16:28:00.002-04:00

Bethany started Mother's Day Out last week, and so far she is loving it! She is going to the same program Brooke went to last year, and has been so excited to start going to school. The first day, she was dressed and ready at 7:35 when we took Brooke to school, and was annoyed that she had to wait until 9:00 for her school to start.

I was worried that she might be shy or nervous the first day, but she had no problems at all. In fact, she put on her nametag, hung up her backpack and lunchbox, and then kicked me out! I had to talk her into giving me a hug before I left, she was ready to start making friends to play with.

She said her favorite part so far is having puppet shows and playing outside on the playground...fun stuff for a 3 year old! She also really likes lunch, and insists on packing her own lunchbox...today I found it filled with peanut butter crackers, vanilla pudding, a juice box, and she set pears out on the counter for me to cut up for her. I'm so glad she is enjoying her new school, and can't quite figure out when she turned into such a big girl!

Oh BOY!

2009-09-13T20:37:00.004-04:00

We had our ultrasound last week, and found out that Baby Bennett #3 is a BOY! Honestly, we weren't too surprised, I've been saying it's a boy all along, but it is nice to have confirmation. We are very excited to have a brother in the house, and the girls have been so funny talking about him. Brooke is ready to share her Handy Manny and Diego toys, and said she hopes he gets a lot of new boy toys to share with her. Bethany isn't sure what to think, she just keeps asking, 'but what do you DO with a brother?'. She has been carrying our ultrasound pictures around the house since last week, and loves looking at her 'bruder' as she calls him.

As for me, I am 20 weeks along and finally feeling somewhat normal again. This pregnancy has been so different than with the girls, and it seems like it has flown by. I am hoping the next 19 weeks go by just as quickly...we can't wait to meet our little boy!

Beautiful Ballerina

2009-09-01T13:00:00.002-04:00

Bethany has been asking to take dance classes for at least a year, and now that she is 3 she is finally old enough! She has been so excited, and insisted we call her 'Ballerina Bethany' all day Monday and Tuesday. Her first class was last Tuesday evening, and she LOVED it. The class is actually a creative movement class, and she said they hopped around like frogs, danced in circles, and did ballerina spins. The class is closed to parents, so I was a little worried she wouldn't want to go in by herself, but she walked in grinning without ever looking back. She was so proud of the sticker she earned, and can't wait to go back!
What a beautiful ballerina!

What a Busy Week!

2009-08-30T18:30:00.005-04:00

We have survived the first week of school, but it has been exhausting! Not only was it the first week of school, but we also started ballet and soccer this week. Next week we add church back in on Wednesday nights, and I don't think we will be slowing down anytime soon.

Brooke had a fabulous week at school. She is very much a 'rules and routines' girl, so she has done really well with the structure of kindergarten. When I picked her up the first day, she said her favorite part of school was when it was over and she was able to see me. The second day, her favorite part was recess, and she hasn't changed her answer since. Here are a few pics of her leaving for her first day...

She was really excited to see that she has homework every night...we'll see how long she stays excited about that!

Bethany has been a bit lost without her playmate. She almost drove me crazy the first day, I don't think she left my side for more than a second. She helped me with laundry, dishes, sweeping, cooking...pretty much everything I did all day long. We also played baby A LOT...I don't think I realized how many baby dolls we have in our house until this week.

Needless to say, she was very excited to see Brooke come home!

Bethany's Prized Posessions

2009-08-22T17:36:00.004-04:00

Over the last few weeks we have done a lot of back to school shopping for Brooke, and Bethany has been feeling left out. She is going to be in a Mother's Day Out program twice a week, and is excited to be going to Brooke's old school. Even though she doesn't really need anything new to start MDO with, I felt bad dragging her along on our shopping trips, so I did give in one day and let her pick out a new lunchbox. Apparently the lunch box wasn't enough, and she started asking on Friday for new school shoes. I asked her what she wanted, and she was very specific-princesses, flowers and sparkley glitter.

I took her shopping this afternoon, and tried to steer her towards more conservative shoes, but she was not interested. As we entered the third store, she started squealing when she saw these shoes, and I knew it was all over...here is what she fell in love with:

Once she had them in her hand there was no reasoning with her, she was absolutely thrilled to find princess shoes, with flowers on the straps and glitter around the edges...and when she dropped one and saw it light up she was over the moon! Normally, I don't buy character clothing for the girls, and I'm not a big fan of all the sparkle, glitz and lights, but Bethany lives for anything 'fancy', so I really didn't have a chance of changing her mind. She wore them out of the store and grinned the whole way home.

Back to School Breakfast

2009-08-18T14:19:00.006-04:00

A friend of ours suggested we have 'Back to School Breakfasts' for the kids in preparation of school starting next week. It is a chance for the kids (and moms) to get used to waking up, getting dressed, and leaving the house early in the morning. It was our turn to host today, and the kids had a lot of fun eating and playing.

I cheated a little, and set the table last night before going to bed. When Bethany walked into the kitchen this morning, she asked if it was her birthday...I guess plastic tablecloths and dishes mean party time to her!

We had lots of food to eat...several types of cereal...
...different muffins and cinnamon rolls...
...and tons of fruit, applesauce and drinks.
The kids did a little eating...
...and a lot of laughing!

After two days of waking up by 6am, I confess that I am tired this afternoon!

Bethany's New Haircut

2009-08-15T08:39:00.005-04:00

After a long summer of sun and swimming, the girls were in need of a haircut to trim up the ends and reshape their hair. I took them in last week, and wasn't too thrilled with the results. After looking at Brooke's crooked hair for a day, I decided to dig out my scissors and even it up. They didn't realize I know how to cut hair, and thought it was so exciting to get a haircut at home.

Instead of just evening up Bethany's hair, we gave her a whole new style, and it is super cute!Bethany has always liked her hair long, but I've been thinking lately that it would look better shorter. Her daddy also thinks little girls should have long hair, so he was speechless when he walked in to find us halfway into her new haircut! Her hair is really fine, and when it is long it just looks stringy and has to constantly be pulled up. I love how thick and healthy her hair looks now...I should have chopped it off a long time ago! She spent most of last night talking about her 'adorable hair' as Brooke calls it, and just grins everytime she looks in the mirror. Now that it's done, Rob agrees that her hair is super cute, but he did ask me to please not cut Brooke's hair any shorter-ha ha! And if you are wondering why she has on a swimsuit and mis-matched hair bow, we were headed to the pool and I wanted to snap a picture really quickly before we left.

Four Months Later...

2009-08-12T10:11:00.004-04:00

Wow, it's been a really long time since I've posted an update! My mom convinced me to open a Facebook account, so I've put most of our pictures and updates on there, and our poor blog has been severely neglected!

We've had a busy summer, and are looking forward to school starting. Brooke just celebrated her 5th birthday, and she has been counting down the days until Kindergarten (literally, this morning she told me we have 12 days left). Her closet is full of new clothes and shoes, her backpack is filled with school supplies, she has a fresh haircut and we've been practicing waking up early in the mornings. She has been saying she wants me to walk her to school (we live 2 blocks away) but yesterday she decided I better drive her in case there are fire ants on the way...that's Brooke, always thinking ahead. She is signed up to play soccer this fall, which should be interesting. She is actually pretty good at soccer, but she is terrified of bugs, so we'll see how she does out in an open field of critters! We had a couple of appointments with her urologist this summer, and her kidney reflux has improved so much that we were able to avoid surgery and take her off antibiotics! Definite answer to prayer, and we are optimistic that she will continue to outgrow the reflux with no more problems.

Bethany will be starting Mother's Day Out this fall, and she has been so cute talking about it. Every time we drive by the building, she points and squeals, 'That's my new school!'. I'm hoping it will be an easy adjustment for her, she's usually pretty shy in new situations, but I know she will really enjoy it once she settles in. She is also going to be taking dance classes this fall, and she cannot wait! She has been asking to dance for over a year, and now that she is 3 she is finally old enough. Ashley gave her a pair of ballet shoes, and she wears them all over the house, sometimes even sleeping in them at night...she is very excited!

Rob has been super busy with work the last few months, and it doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. He spent most of July in San Antonio, and came home yesterday with a list of three weeks he will be away in August/September. Of course we would prefer him to be home with us, but if he does have to be away I'm thankful it's just little TDYs and not a deployment.

I am just about 4 months pregnant, and have spent most of the summer laying on the couch. I was never really sick with the girls, just a little queasy in the evenings, so I was not prepared for major morning/all-day sickness this time around. With Rob being gone for the bulk of it, I was seriously in survival mode, doing only what was necessary to take care of the girls. They probably watched more tv in those weeks than they have all year, and they loved dragging their toys all over the house while I was too sick to complain. Brooke was such a good helper, getting breakfast for them (usually cereal or graham crackers with chocolate chips-really healthy stuff!) and Bethany was always sitting by the bathroom door asking if I was okay when I would get sick. Thankfully, those days are over...or at least I hope they are! It seems like every time I say I am feeling better I get sick again, but I am feeling a million times better than I was a few weeks ago.

I took the girls with me to my ob appointment yesterday, and they got to hear the baby's heartbeat, which they thought was super cool. Brooke said it sounded like a washing machine, and Bethany said it made her want to dance. It has been so much fun to listen to their questions and comments on the baby. Bethany was disappointed that we couldn't have our baby yesterday, but Brooke explained to her that God is still putting the baby together so we have to wait a little longer. January 25 cannot come soon enough!

Mindset of a Military Child

2009-04-14T12:26:00.002-04:00

The girls and I were on our way home from College Station yesterday, and Brooke was looking out the window as we drove through Lampasas. This was our converstation:

Brooke: (noticing a playground) Is that a church or a school?

Me: That's a church.

Brooke: What town are we in?

Me: We're in Lampasas, that's the First Baptist Church of Lampasas.

Brooke: Well, I hope the Army tells us to live here next time, because I want to go to that church and play on that playground!

Me: (hiding a laugh) I don't think they will tell us to live here, there's nowhere for Daddy to work.

Brooke: They don't have militaries here?

Me: No, not here. The town isn't big enough.

Brooke: (after thinking for a minute) Well...maybe GOD will tell the Army to send us here and we can go to that church...and I AM playing on that playground.

If we're doing the backyard...

2009-03-23T11:30:00.006-04:00

...we might as well do the front yard. Knowing that we will only be in this house for a few years before the Army moves us, we decided to go ahead and finish the front yard so we can enjoy it and not have another project next year. The backyard was definitely in worse shape than the front, so we decided to just add some flower beds, dump a ton of topsoil/compost to level out the front and then reseed to grow some healthy grass. Here's the front of the house when we moved in...

I spent an entire day clearing out the areas for the flower beds. The girls loved playing outside while I was working, and their goal was to master the hula hoops!Rob was impressed with our progress when he came home for lunch that day (and I think he was secretly glad to not be working with me!).The girls drove their little car into the yard and turned on the radio so we had something to listen to. I was hoping for music, but they were looking for a news station, 'because that's what Daddy likes to listen to'. I kept explaining that Daddy wasn't there and Mommy needed some upbeat music, but it wasn't doing any good.While Barry was in town we were able to lay pavers under the waterhose, and also put the metal edging around the front flower bed.He also bolted a trellis to the house, with a little help from Brooke. She did some measuring and digging (notice she found some Dora gloves to use in the yard so she could be like Grandpa)......and Barry did the hanging.After planting a few shrubs and bushes in the new flower beds, it was time to add the topsoil/compost mix. The plan was to level out the front yard, and add some good soil to the backyard and then reseed. We had two dumptruck loads of dirt dumped in the front, which ended up being about 24 yards of dirt.
After already doing so much work, we took the easy way out and paid the guys to spread and level the dirt for us. They had a little bobcat that made the job much easier, but it still took several hours. I had no idea how much 24 yards of dirt was...now I know that it is a crazy huge amount!

We ended up putting about 3 inches of soil in the back, and another 3 inches in the front, plus filling in a big dip at the front of our yard. If we can't grow healthy grass in this soil, there is a problem!Sometime this week we have new rain gutters being installed on the front and back of the house. This front section in particular likes to flood on the rare occassion that it rains, and we don't want the beds to wash away. We had to special order the gutters to match the paint trim on the house, so we are just waiting for them to arrive so they can be installed.Once the gutters are up, we will have the yard sprayed and reseeded with a strong bermuda, and hopefully we will have a nice green yard by the summer!

"Can we play outside?"

2009-03-23T10:47:00.007-04:00

That is the question we've been hearing from the girls lately, and with the warm weather, I don't blame them! We really enjoy getting out and burning off some energy, but our yard is in serious need of help. When we moved in, the backyard was mostly dirt and rock, with a few weeds growing randomly.

The girls would come in from playing with a huge cloud of dirt around them, not to mention the backyard was filled with holes they were digging. I told Rob we had to do something about the yard, so we spent an afternoon with our neighbor's tiller, breaking up the ground and throwing rock and dirt out of the yard. Thankfully, we have a huge ditch behind our house, so the two inches of rock that we took off the yard could just be tossed over the fence.

Brooke was a big helper, she had fun collecting rock and clumps of dirt for us. She loves being outside, even if it means working.

Bethany was not such a big helper, she's not a fan of messes. She spent most of her time sitting around watching us...notice the clip-on earring...she said she wasn't 'fancy' enough without it.

After many hours of raking, shoveling, raking some more, and shoveling some more, the backyard was cleared and leveled.

The next project was putting in some patio pavers outside of the storage shed. Rob's father was in town visiting that weekend, and offered to help in the yard...he pretty much put in the pavers on his own, and was a huge help! The first step was to level the area...the girls were so excited that Grandpa 'needed' their help. Next we added paver base and sand, and then started laying the bricks. Rob and his father decided on a pattern, and then it was my job to make sure they had the right bricks. Rob knew it would bother me if the pattern was messed up, so he decided to leave me and his dad on the pavers while he went to work on another project.Once the pavers were down, we added the trim pieces to keep them from shifting, and then swept sand on top to help set them into place. We had a few bricks left over, so we stacked them around the edges until we find a better use for them. Knowing that we had two dump trucks of dirt coming, we also set our composter and a random bench out there, just to keep them out of the yard for now...they won't be staying there.

The last project for the day was planting a Crype Mertle. Rob had spent hours digging a large hole in the yard, and I think that might have been the hardest work of all. After about 3 inches of digging he hit solid rock, and had to go after it with the pickaxe. After another foot of digging, he hit a huge piece of limestone that he had to break up. It was exhausting work, so we ended up trading off...he'd break up rock and I'd shovel it over the fence while he rested.

Once the hole was deep enough, they put the tree in......and it is perfect! We were surprised to see it already turning green, and sprouting little buds.As we were cleaning up, Brooke found an earthworm. She wanted to keep it, but once we explained it would die if it stayed out of the soil too long, she agreed to put him back. Everytime we go outside she looks for that worm...so far she hasn't found him again.After a long day of work, we were tired, filthy and a little bit sunburned. Bethany spent most of the afternoon supervising from the patio, but even she was tired...so much so that she fell asleep sitting there watching us!

Later that night Rob mentioned his arm hurting. I looked at it and was surprised to see a huge lump in his forearm. The fact that he was even complaining about it worried me, and as I watched it the next day the lump continued to get larger and he wasn't able to use it much at all. His father and I insisted we get it looked at, so I took him to the e.r. for an xray. Thankfully, it wasn't broken, just a torn muscle and ligament swelling, but it is still pretty painful.

Did he really just ask me that?

2009-03-06T16:19:00.004-05:00

Rob had to work the CQ desk last Sunday night, from 8pm to 8am. He came home around 8:30 Monday morning, ate breakfast and then went to sleep. The girls and I did our best to be quiet in the house so he could get some rest, and spent part of the day running errands. Around 2:30 he came out of the bedroom, ate some lunch and settled into his chair to watch a movie with the girls. A little while later I asked if he slept well, and this was his answer...

"Have you ever felt like you slept, but you didn't really sleep? You know, your head is groggy, you aren't really thinking straight and your body is still tired, but you just woke up? And you could probably go back to sleep for several more hours?"

Umm...hello...have you met our youngest daughter, Bethany? Yes, I know what it's like to not feel rested after 'sleeping' at night. Have I mentioned lately that she is now 3 years old and still not sleeping through the night. If he was looking for sympathy, he most certainly didn't get it from me!

Is it spring yet?

2009-02-24T16:03:00.002-05:00

It is no secret that winter is my least favorite time of year, I really do not enjoy the cold weather and the short days. My mom always says she's like a flower and needs some sunshine...I definitely agree with her! I always dread January, it seems like such a letdown after the holidays, and it is so hard for me to find any motivation...which results in lots of pajama days! February isn't much better, although we do have Bethany's birthday that month, which gives me something fun to focus on. Now that we are approaching March, and the days are getting longer and warmer, I'm finally feeling productive again. We spent the weekend outside, working on the yard, and it was wonderful! I have all the blinds open in the house, and the backdoor is open to let in a little fresh air...it is so refreshing. I can't wait for spring to finally be here...or better yet, summer!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Fancy Bethany!

2009-02-03T13:42:00.008-05:00

The girls received a couple of Fancy Nancy books for Christmas, and Bethany immediately fell in love with them. When we started thinking about her birthday party, it was an easy decision to go with the Fancy Nancy theme, and it turned out so cute!

We tried to keep her party small by only inviting close family and her little friends that live on our street, but we still ended up with over 30 people at the party. Her guests were invited to a 'fancy birthday soiree', and we started out the party by reading the original Fancy Nancy book.

All of her guests were given a box with a fancy dress-up and a feather boa, and they were so cute running around in their 'fancy clothes'.

They were missing some accessories, so they visited the 'beads and bangles boutique' to pick out bracelets, necklaces, earrings and rings. They were so funny admiring themselves in the mirror!Ashley was kind enough to help me out by giving the girls temporary tattoos and also painting their fingernails. They also spent some time in the craft room decorating princess wands and crowns. The girls also needed some fancy flip-flops to complete their outfits, so they worked on those while we were getting ready for lunch.We took a cue from the Fancy Nancy book, and had a fancy pizza lunch at 'The Kings Crown' restaurant (really our dining room, but we hung a cute banner with the restaurant name on it).Each girl had a special spot at the table...

...and we had lots of yummy treats to eat!

Bethany enjoyed having her friends over to help celebrate, and she had such a great birthday!

One of Bethany's favorite gifts was 'Biscuit' the puppy...the girls have carried that dog all over the house and have had so much fun playing with it. That's the closest they will come to a real dog, so I'm glad they are enjoying it!We had an entire cake leftover after her party, so we lit the candles that night and let her make another wish.Happy Birthday, Fancy Bethany, we love you!

No Infection!

2009-01-16T16:41:00.003-05:00

We had Brooke's follow-up appointment today, and were happy to hear that her infection is gone! She will still be on antibiotics once daily, and as long as she stays infection-free we won't have to see the urologist again until June. What a relief!

Fancy Bethany

2009-01-15T16:36:00.003-05:00

Bethany has decided that she needs to be 'fancy' at all times. As soon as she wakes up she runs to her closet to pick out a dress, I think she's scared I'll put her in pants if she lets me pick out her clothes. She's ripped more pair of pantyhose in the last month than Brooke has worn in her entire life, and her insistance on piggy tails and hair bows is getting stronger. She's definitely a 'girly girl', and cannot wait for her Fancy Nancy birthday party in a few weeks.

She especially likes accessories, and can put together some unique combinations. For instance, the kneepads that Rob was using when putting in our floors made a much better hat in her mind...

Today we were at the store, and she found pink and white striped legwarmers...she was grinning from ear to ear when I told her she could get a pair (and the sweetie she is, she insisted we get a pair for Brooke). She hasn't taken them off since we got home, and she's already told me she is sleeping in them tonight. The simple things in life really do make her a happy girl!

You Saved $433.99

2009-01-09T11:05:00.003-05:00

Thank goodness for good medical insurance and prescription coverage. Over $450.00 (with our part included) for a 40-day supply of antibiotics...

Infection Already

2009-01-06T11:04:00.002-05:00

While we were at Brooke's urology appointment, her doctor ordered a routine urine culture. She wasn't showing any signs of infection, so we weren't too concerned about it, and actually almost forgot to call last Friday for the results. Surprisingly enough, her culture showed an infection...we were not expecting that at all. We had to wait until today to see if she was on the correct antibiotic, and it seems that the current infection is resistant to her maintenance antibiotics. Her doctor called in a new prescription, we will retest with her local pediatrician next Friday, and if the infection is gone we will continue with the new meds for a month before testing again. If the infection is still there next Friday, we will be heading to Lubbock to discuss our options with her urologist.

The scary part for us is that we had no idea she had an infection. The kidney infections are easy to spot, with the high fevers that give them away. The lower tract infections are sneakier, and if there were any symptoms, we totally missed them. It makes us wonder how many times she's been walking around with unknown infections, and if she thinks the associated pain is 'normal'.

Catching a Quick Breath

2008-12-30T20:22:00.005-05:00

What a whirlwind the last week and a half has been! We have been doing lots of traveling and visiting family, and I think we are now bordering on exhaustion. We spent a little over a week in College Station, spent yesterday at home doing laundry, and then today we left very early to drive to Lubbock for a doctor's appointment. We will be leaving for Austin tomorrow, and are looking forward to spending New Year's with Rob's dad and family. I think we are coming home on Friday, and Rob will go back to work on Monday...we will have spent 3 days at home out of his two week break. Throw in the ugly stomach bug that Rob and Bethany had the day before Christmas Eve, and the nasty head colds that Bethany and I now have, and we've had a full holiday. I think Rob needs a 'vacation from his vacation' so he can recover before going back to work!

We spent today in Lubbock (about 3 hours from here) at Brooke's pediatric urologist appointment. We are more than pleased with her doctor, and feel confident that she knows what she is doing and will take excellent care of our Fancy Pants. She was absolutely wonderful with Brooke, and I could not believe how talkative Brooke was. She normally totally ignores doctors, but today she was telling her all about her Christmas presents, her favorite color, her school, her sister...she went on and on. While reviewing Brooke's test results, she let Brooke be in charge of the mouse to the computer, telling her where to click to bring up the pictures...that definitely got her on Brooke's good side!

It turns out that Brooke's reflux is a bit more complicated than we originally thought. She went over every image from Brooke's test (over 70 of them) and explained what she was looking for in each one. The reflux is based on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the worst. Brooke's pediatrician had told us her reflux was a 3 on both sides, but cautioned us that the urologist would have a better idea of how to rate it. As it turns out, the urologist said she is grade 4 on the left and grade 3/4 on the right side. She also said that she thinks Brooke has double ureters on both sides (we originally thought she only had a duplicated system on the left), but is only refluxing in 3 out of the 4 ureters. Additionally, the tests showed that Brooke's reflux is very sensitive on the left side (where two ureters are refluxing) and that any amount of pressure on her bladder is causing the urine to back up into her kidneys. Because of that, her left kidney is a tad swollen, but not enough to be too concerned with. Her doctor was pleasantly surprised to find that there is no scarring on either kidney, which is great news!

Our immediate plan of action is to give her 6 months on antibiotics, and then retest with another VCUG and renal sonogram. Additionally, she is starting on a stool softener to keep any additional pressure off her bladder, and will be drinking tons of fluid and taking lots of bathroom breaks. Currently, Brooke can go all day without a bathroom break-her ureters drain the urine from her bladder so quickly, she doesn't have the sensation of being full until she has taken in a lot of liquid. Her doctor labeled this as dysfunctional voiding, and it's high on our list of things to work on.

Based on today's discussions, her urologist is recommending surgery to correct her reflux. She has a few things working against her (duplicate system, low pressure reflux, high grade reflux, dysfunctional voiding and her age), and her doctor said that the odds of her outgrowing this are very slim. We have her follow up appointment scheduled for June 11, and she will have her tests done in the morning before we meet with the urologist. If there is no improvement, or if she has a breakthrough infection while on the antibiotics, we will go forward with the surgery (hopefully during the summer before she starts kindergarten). If there is an improvement and her reflux is less severe, then we will keep her on meds and retest in 6 months.

We are glad to have a plan of action, and are hoping for no new infections and good news in July. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and enjoy a great New Year!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T01:01:00.001-05:00

Hope you have a wonderful holiday!

Jingle and Jangle

2008-12-23T01:01:00.003-05:00

We had some unexpected visitors this month, and they have been up to no good! The morning after we decorated our tree, we woke up to find two elves, Jingle and Jangle, on our couch, with a note that Santa had sent them to play until Christmas.

We never know what they will be doing, and the girls have been so excited to check on them in the mornings. They must have been homesick, because we found them emailing Santa one night.

One morning we found them getting some exercise...by climbing up our Christmas tree!
And another day they were playing hide-and-seek...we finally found them in the stockings.
These silly little elves are always up to something. One morning we found them eating candy and drinking soda in the living room...that's a big no no!
Brooke is ready to send them back to Santa, she says they are not good listeners and they are starting to get on her nerves. Bethany loves them, I think she wishes she could be their partner in crime.

A Conversation With Bethany

2008-12-18T12:19:00.003-05:00

Bethany: I want to wear my cupcake shirt today, it's pink, my 'favowit'.

Mommy: Okay, grab your pants and let's get dressed.

Bethany: I don't LIKE those pants, they don't match my shirt.

Mommy: They do match, see the cupcakes on the bottom?

Bethany: They not pink, my 'favowit', they don't match. I don't want them, I want pink pants.

Mommy: When you get bigger you can pick your clothes, today you can wear these pants.

Bethany: But I AM bigger....I drink 'owange' juice and grow strong.

Mommy: (hiding a laugh) Put on the pants and we'll get some more orange juice so you can grow even stronger.

Bethany: (after getting her pants on) Ohhhh, I am so 'prettiful'! Do you like my pants?!?!

Life with an almost-3-year-old is always entertaining!

Endless Imagination

2008-12-16T17:13:00.002-05:00

Meet our new friend, 'Cuppy'. I finished wrapping the last of our Christmas gifts, and Brooke was quick to snatch up the cardboard roll left from the wrapping paper. After she added a clown wig and a pink flowered hat, she named it 'Cuppy' and announced that we had a new friend that was sleeping over. She carried that silly thing around until bedtime, and her and Bethany had such fun giggling and talking about their visitor. What silly girls!

Mother's Day Out

2008-12-12T12:17:00.005-05:00

As much as I don't like to think about it, Brooke will be starting kindergarten in the fall. She is absolutely thrilled, the elementary school is two blocks away, so every time we leave the neighborhood she talks about turning 5 so she can start school. I'm hoping the spring and summer drag by...it just doesn't seem like she should be that old yet! Since she has been at home with me forever, we decided to enroll her in a Mother's Day Out program that several of her friends on our street attend. We wanted her to have a chance to experience a classroom setting before actually starting school, and she was so excited when we told her she would be going to 'school'.

She will be going twice a week starting in January, and she has been going the last few Thursdays of this month. She wakes up on 'school' days ready to go...she is all bundled up and waiting by the door before Bethany and I are even dressed! She has really enjoyed it so far, making new friends and doing lots of crafts and projects. The first day was a little long for her, when I picked her up she asked why I left her there so long and said that she was exhausted...and judging by her crabby mood she was telling the truth!

I've enjoyed spending some time alone with Bethany, although she is a bit confused as to why Brooke is not with us. She asks repeatedly 'is it time to pick up my sister?' and really does miss her playmate. We met Rob for lunch yesterday, and she was upset that we weren't going to pick up Brooke first. I thought she would enjoy the individual attention, but I guess I'm not as exciting as Brooke is! She does tell me 'you are my best mommy ever' so I guess that counts for something...

Slowing Down

2008-12-09T22:16:00.003-05:00

A friend brought a copy of Twilight to the hospital, and I read a little, but was too distracted to really get into it. I like to read a book start to finish without stopping, so I tucked it away until I could focus, and yesterday was that day. It was cold and dreary outside, so I declared it a pajama day and the girls were thrilled that I let them take over the living room with their toys...I normally try to keep their mess confined to the playroom! I spent the afternoon alternating between reading, watching puppet shows (courtesy of Brooke) and dressing babies (Bethany still has trouble with that). I finished the book right after Rob heated up some leftovers for dinner, and decided I would go pick up the next book in the series after gymnastics today.

I needed a few things from Sam's, so I grabbed up the second book while we were there (they didn't have the third or I would have gotten the rest of the series) and after we had lunch we settled back into our comfy clothes and blankets for another relaxing afternoon. The girls really enjoyed being silly together, and they especially enjoyed making messes and having special snacks. It was rainy and cold again today, so the low-key afternoon fit nicely. I read my book a little, played wii with Brooke for a while, read books to the girls, played baby dolls...just enjoyed the afternoon. I was reminded again how well they play together, and it felt nice to overlook the chaos around us as the toys were slowly overtaking the house.

Normally, it's hard for me to fight the urge to clean up behind them as they are playing, or to bite my tongue when they are cutting paper into a million tiny pieces (that I will later be picking up out of the carpet), and it's especially hard not to throw the last remaining tub of play-doh in the trash (seriously, how did Brooke trick me into buying a play-doh ice cream shop...the mother of all messes!). Today was different though, I was relaxed, they were relaxed, and we enjoyed it! I didn't flinch like normal when they found the trashbag of stuffed animals in the closet, instead I 'oohed' and 'aaahed' with them when they pulled out no less than 100 long lost friends. We tucked them into bed tonight with every single one of those stuffed animals (along with all of Bethany's babies) and just laughed at the sight of them.

What a perfect reminder the past few afternoons have been to me...a reminder to slow down and really be present in the 'right now'. Who knew a couple of pajama days could be so good for the soul?

Hello Again!

2008-12-07T17:56:00.005-05:00

It's been a while since we've posted, and my mom (nicely) told me to update the blog because she's tired of seeing the same old post at the top. Not much has changed with Brooke, her pediatrician has submitted a consult request with a pediatric urologist in Lubbock, and we are waiting on them to schedule an appointment. Her test results showed grade 3 reflux (it is rated on a scale of 1-5) on both sides, so she is on antibiotics until she either outgrows it or has surgery to correct it.

We spent last week in College Station, and had a great time visiting with family. We spent Thanksgiving day at my parents' house, and had a ton of people join us! The girls loved playing with their cousins, and we enjoyed catching up with relatives. Rob hasn't seen most of my family in a couple of years, so it was nice for him to be there during the holiday. We had planned to travel to Austin that evening to spend Thanksgiving dinner with Rob's family, but a minor turkey carving incident cancelled those plans. My mom insisted that Rob should carve one of the turkeys, and what started out like this...

...ended up like this.

The electric knife managed to slice his finger right across the knuckle, so we headed off to the urgent care clinic for stitches and a brace. He wasn't feeling like driving to Austin and back, so we watched the game at my parents house while the girls ran wild playing with Shaley and Talan.

My mom and I spent the next day shopping. There weren't too many things we saw in the black friday ads that we really wanted or needed, but it was still fun to get up early...we were at the store at 4am, and spent 8 hours shopping. It was also my birthday, so Rob brought the girls to the mall to pick out a gift. They were too cute, telling me they had a surprise. As we walked by the cookie store, Brooke told me not to look over at my cake...so much for surprises! After a full day of shopping, it was the perfect dessert to go with our thanksgiving leftovers.

We came home late Sunday evening, and spent Monday doing laundry and cleaning the house. Tuesday evening Rob pulled all the Christmas decorations out of the attic, and the girls were so excited to decorate the tree. I opened the container of ornaments, and they went to town.

I was tempted to leave the ornaments where they hung them, but that would mean only the bottom two feet of our tree was decorated, so I spent the next day spreading them around a little. We also set up our christmas village and nativity, which the girls were very impressed with. We haven't set them up in a few years, I was scared the girls would break them, so this is the first year they've really seen them. We've already had one small broken piece, and we found a dickens village person visiting the manger of the nativity, but they are enjoying it so I guess it's okay. They are also obsessed with one particular set of ornaments, and I keep finding them laying around on the ground. My mom has given them the hallmark year ornaments since they were born, so they each have a set. I keep telling them they aren't toys, but they don't care, they play with them anyway. The first year is a kitten in a stroller, which they push all over the house (Bethany's is actually missing a wheel now). I'm just hoping they survive this year and the novelty will wear off before we put them on the tree next year!

A Couple of Answers, and More Questions

2008-11-21T16:57:00.005-05:00

The results of Brooke's VCUG showed definite reflux in both of her kidneys, as well as a duplicate system on one side of her bladder.

When we arrived at the hospital she was very quiet, and refused to look at anyone. She was given her id bracelet (she didn't want it, I think she thought it meant we were checking in again) and we were sent to radiology for the renal sonogram. She was unsure during the procedure, and refused to answer any questions or even acknowledge that the technician was in the room. Her ultrasound was finished right at lunchtime, so the doctors all left and the nurse told us we could go grab a snack. Brooke was excited to eat, and asked for a vanilla coke and tater tots from Sonic, so off we went. We arrived back at the hospital about an hour later, and the nurse was waiting to take us back for the VCUG. As I was putting the hospital gown on Brooke, she totally lost it, and started sobbing and shaking all over. She had herself so worked up that she never even noticed the catheter being inserted, and after a round of 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' (her favorite song) she had calmed down. The doctor showed her the tv that would light up with her tummy and the dye, but she was not interested.

I was very interested, and I'm so glad I was able to watch everything that was going on. I would hate to have the testing today and then wait all weekend to know the results! As they inserted the dye, her bladder filled, and immediately the left side forced the dye into her kidney. That was when we learned she has a double system on that side, which basically means she has two ureters connecting her left kidney to her bladder. The right side also forced the dye into her kidney, although it was a bit slower than the left. The doctor had her empty her bladder while laying on the table, hoping that the kidneys would drain, but the dye remained in them. At that point he had me take her to the bathroom, hoping that gravity while walking would help drain her kidneys. We returned for another xray, and were disappointed to find the dye still in her kidneys. He did say that they had emptied some, and he expected them to empty completely by the next time she goes to the bathroom.

The radiologist will be sending the results to her pediatrician, and we should hear back from her early next week. As far as treatment, we will most likely be looking at long-term antibiotics with routine testing, or surgery if she feels the reflux is severe enough to cause kidney damage. As you can imagine, we are anxious to talk to her pediatrician, and have lots of questions to ask.

If you are curious, you can read more about reflux HERE.

And you can view an image that is almost identical to Brooke's duplicate system HERE.

Friday

2008-11-18T17:25:00.003-05:00

Brooke had her follow-up appointment today, and everything seems to be going well. She still has another week of antibiotics, and her doctor has ordered some more tests for the end of this week. She will have another renal sonogram done at 11:30 on Friday, followed by a VCUG at 1:00 on Friday. From what we've been told, the VCUG is an uncomfortable procedure, so we are looking forward to having that behind us. She will not be able to eat/drink after 5am that morning, so we may be waking up extra early for breakfast...she will be starving by the time her tests are finished!

Thanks for your thought and prayers over the last few weeks. Hopefully we will receive good results from these tests, or at least have an indication on how to prevent another infection.

It's Good to be Home

2008-11-08T20:51:00.003-05:00

We made it home around 1:30 yesterday, and it is soooo good to be here! The girls were a little out of sorts, and I don't blame them after the crazy week we've had. We were all exhausted, so the girls and I took a nice afternoon nap. After dinner, we all curled up in our bed to watch a movie, and then we headed to bed. Rob slept with Bethany in her room, and Brooke stayed in bed with me, just in case she started getting warm or woke up feeling bad.

Rob picked up Brooke's antibiotics yesterday-she is not a fan of tham at all, in fact, she covers her mouth and hides when it is medicine time. They do seem to be helping, she had a good day of playing with Bethany, and she ate more today than she has all week. Unfortunately, the meds have been really rough on her stomach, so we are staying close to the bathroom. She fell asleep around 5:30 this evening, and was running a low-grade fever (101) when we woke her up. After some motrin and antibiotics (and a little root beer to wash it all down), she crawled into bed for the night. I will be sleeping with her again tonight, just to make sure she is okay, and we're hoping she sleeps well and wakes up fever free. Any temp of 102 or above requires a call back to the hospital, and we don't even want to think about heading back there!

And the Doc says.... Go Home!

2008-11-07T12:14:00.002-05:00

Okay, this is my first post (yes, this is Rob)...but I thought I would be the first to say that the Doc has said we are good to go home! Yea! Brooke is rather rambunctious at the moment and can't wait to go home. Brooke will be on meds for the next two weeks, she will need a follow-up exam next week at the base, and then additional testing to figure out what might be causing these things, but it looks like we are getting out of here today. I want to personally thank everyone for your thoughts, prayers, and gifts during our long week. The steady stream of our church friends have definitely made this week so much easier to handle.

So with the good news, hopefully, our blog can get back to the mundane with house improvements and the such. Thank Y'all, again.

Rob

Ready to go Home!

2008-11-07T09:07:00.002-05:00

Brooke woke up around 8:30 last night, dripping with sweat, and feeling much better! Her temp was down to 97.7, which is obviously the lowest it's been since we were admitted, and stayed below 99.0 all night long. She had a breakfast of champions this morning, vanilla ice cream and orange juice, and now she is standing by her bed playing with a dry erase board. Her nurse just came in and said she is pretty sure we will be going home today, so we are just waiting for her doctor to give the orders. She usually comes in for rounds at lunchtime, so hopefully we'll be home by late afternoon.

100.8

2008-11-06T18:56:00.002-05:00

Brooke is tossing and turning, not feeling well, trying to sleep...and just barely under the 101 temp mark. Her nurse gave her some motrin, so hopefully that will stop her from getting any warmer and allow her to get some good sleep tonight.

Getting Warmer

2008-11-06T15:47:00.003-05:00

After a great morning, Brooke is starting to crash. Her temp was close to normal for the majority of the morning, and she was feeling really good. We had a few visitors, and then the librarian stopped by for story time. Brooke was really excited about that, as we normally go to the library once a week. We stayed in the playroom for another 30 minutes, putting together puzzles, reading books and playing games. She requested chicken nuggets for lunch, and actually ate a couple of them, which is a big improvement.

Her doctor came by, and was thrilled to see Brooke building a tent with the pillows and blankets from the couch (you can tell that Daddy was on hospital duty!). She said that as long as her temp stays under 101.0 we will be discharged tomorrow morning. She still has her iv fluids, but they have reduced them to a slower drip, and she will be getting more iv antibiotics this evening.

About an hour ago Brooke started getting sluggish, and crawled into her tent to rest. Her cheeks were flushed and she was getting grumpy, so we asked her nurse to check her. Her temp is at 101.2...not good. Her vitals are not due until 4pm, so this temp reading doesn't have to be recorded, and we are working to get more fluids into her to help cool her off. She is laying beside me watching Clifford and yawning...she wore herself out this morning.

Showing Improvement

2008-11-06T09:42:00.002-05:00

Brooke finally had a good night's sleep, and she is feeling much better this morning. She slept from 9:30 until 7:30, only waking twice for a trip to the bathroom. Her temp was 102.7 at midnight, then dropped to 101.9 at 4:30, and has been holding steady at 99.7 for the past few hours. She is still receiving iv fluids and antibiotics, and we are really trying to get her to start eating and drinking. She is not a fan of the hospital food (no surprise, she's the pickiest little eater we have), but she did feel well enough to ask Daddy to bring a chocolate donut when he comes this morning. We'll see if she eats it or not...at this point, junk food is better than nothing, so we're just going with it! We are hoping that her temp will drop a little bit more, and then stay there for the next 24 hours.

2008-11-05T17:19:00.003-05:00

Brooke's 48-hour culture came back, and we were happy to hear that she has been on the correct antibiotics. Her temp was at 102 this afternoon when I left the hospital, so at this point we will be staying the night and hoping that she becomes fever-free soon. Once we hit 24 hours of her temp being 99.0 or below, we will be able to come home.

Bethany and I just took a little nap and are getting her things ready for mother's day out tomorrow. She is excited to go play with her friends, and was happy to help me pack her lunch and backpack. I'm letting her eat some dinner right now, and then we will be going back to the hospital.

Morning Update

2008-11-05T08:00:00.002-05:00

Brooke had an okay night, she managed to sleep pretty soundly from 1:30 to 6:30, and is now laying in bed watching tv. The night started out rough, her fever spiked and she was very uncomfortable, but once she had some meds her temperature lowered a bit and she was actually able to keep down some water and sprite. She woke up with a fever about 30 minutes ago, and she is pretty pitiful. She sat up and said 'Mommy, I just can't take it anymore'. She is ready to start feeling better and get home.

Feeling the Love

2008-11-04T19:23:00.004-05:00

I knew that we had found a GOOD church home in San Angelo, but after the last 24 hours, I've decided we've found a GREAT church family. The church we attend is one of the larger churches in town, but it really has the 'small church' atmosphere. The girls and I have been attending since August, Rob joined us when he returned from Florida, and we have really come to feel at home there.

Yesterday morning at 3:45 Brooke woke up with a very high fever. I gave her a dose of motrin and then crawled in bed with her until 7:30 when she woke up for the day. She was still burning up, so we gave her some more motrin and got on the phone to make an appointment. Initially, there were no opening on base, so I called a friend from church who is a local pediatrician. His office said they would definitely see her, but when I called back to the base clinic for a referral number, they had a cancellation and we were able to get into our 'normal' doctor (I say 'normal' because this is our first visit...our insurance just kicked in Nov.1).

This morning we saw our pediatrician friend while we were on the way back from radiology, and he was surprised to see that Brooke had been admitted. He walked back to her room with us and went over her case with me, and has promised to be in close contact once we start doing more in-depth testing.

While Rob was sitting with Brooke, our music minister stopped by for a visit (his wife was Brooke's nurse yesterday). We have never really spoken with him, other than courtesy greetings on the way out of church, so we were surprised that he went out of his way to come check on us.

As Bethany and I were entering the hospital this afternoon, our pastor was coming out of the gift shop. He had a card and a stuffed animal for Brooke, with a note that her Wednesday night teachers and friends miss her and are praying for her. She has been glued to that stuffed animal since his visit, and keeps asking if she will be healthy enough to go to church tomorrow.

Later this afternoon, our preschool director called and insisted that I drop Bethany off at mother's day out on Thursday. She said she's already reserved a spot for her, and that they are looking forward to having her come play. One of the boys in her sunday school class will be there, so Bethany is excited about it, she was ready to go today. An hour later, a balloon bouquet was delivered from the preschool director, and the girls had a blast playing with them.

This evening, a guy from our sunday school class stopped by. He works across the street at the main hospital (we are at the women and children center) and wanted to come by to check on us. His wife teaches Brooke's wednesday night class, and his son is in her sunday school class, so they wanted to make sure Brooke was feeling okay and that we were being taken care of.

We have certainly felt loved and encouraged over the past 24 hours. It is much easier for us to spend the day stuck in the hospital with Brooke when there is support from people who genuinely care about us. The results from the renal sonogram were excellent, everything looked great. We should get the 48-hour culture results around 5pm tomorrow, and that will help determine whether or not she is getting the right antibiotics. Additionally, her doctor said that she will not be discharged until she is fever-free for 24 hours, so that is our current goal. Her temperature seems to go up and down quite a bit, but she is cool as can be right now. That said, she tends to run hot at night, so that will be the real test. She is standing beside me right now, watching a new movie, and I'm hoping she will sleep well tonight. Thanks for all your prayers and good thoughts...I'll update again in the morning.

Hospital Pictures

2008-11-04T13:17:00.004-05:00

I'm home for a quick shower and lunch with Bethany, while Rob is at the hospital with Brooke. Thought I'd transfer the pictures from yesterday, and put up a few while I have a few minutes. Brooke was taken down for her renal sonogram early this morning, and we should find out the results when her doctor comes by this afternoon. She thought it was neat to see pictures of inside her tummy, and did really well during the exam.

Yesterday evening, getting settled in our room.

Trying to get some fluids in her anyway possible...a cherry popsicle was a nice treat!

Feeling well enough to walk to the bathroom, she thinks the iv pole is fun to drag around.

Too much excitement, and then she crashed hard. Her fever was back up, and she was not feeling well.Resting on the couch while her sheets were changed...she sat there for about 5 seconds before falling asleep.Bethany, as usual, has had a great time at the hospital. She really does think life is a party, and has had fun visiting Brooke.

She likes to crawl up in the bed and watch tv with her big sister.

She really likes to smash the tv speaker against her ear so that nobody can hear it but her...still driving Brooke crazy, even when she is sick!

Her favorite is the jell-o, or 'jed-o' as she calls it. Brooke still hasn't eaten anything, and hasn't been able to keep down water or sprite yet, so Bethany has helped herself to Brooke's dinner and breakfast trays.

Brooke was eager for Daddy and Bethany to visit this morning, and by the time they arrived her fever was down a bit so she was able to get up and play a little.

Morning Update

2008-11-04T07:48:00.002-05:00

What a long night. Brooke wanted me to sleep with her, so I crawled into her little hospital bed and we turned out the light around 10:00. She was running a pretty high fever for most of the night, and having some crazy dreams. She would randomly sit up and tell me to hang up the phone, and then hand me her arm with the iv. One time she started yelling that she was leaking all over the bed. Another time she asked if I could quit talking to her (I was trying to sleep, no talking here). Her nurses were in every hour checking her vitals and bringing tylenol/motrin to get her fever down, so we didn't get a lot of rest. Her fever did come down a little, she started shaking and sweating really badly, and the next time she was checked she was a bit cooler. She sat up to drink a little water, and a few minutes later was throwing up and having dry heaves. Her best stretch of sleep was from 3:45 to 6:30, and now she is laying beside me watching Playhouse Disney. She is freezing, and she is shivering (or as she say's 'sugaring') all over, but seems to be in good spirits.

Headed to the Hospital UPDATED

2008-11-03T15:25:00.004-05:00

Brooke has another UTI, and we are headed to the hospital for some strong iv antibiotics. Her doctor didn't feel comfortable sending us home, she said that Brooke is one sick little girl right now. We will be doing a full work-up on her bladder and kidneys once she is feeling better, and hopefully we'll be able to prevent another infection. Your thoughts and prayers are appreciated...it will probably be a long night. I'll update when we get a chance....

*UPDATE*

We arrived at the hospital and were taken directly back to Brooke's room in the pediatric wing. She changed into her gown, and we went down the hall to the treatment room to have some bloodwork done and to have her iv placed. Because she has tiny veins, and she is dehydrated (hadn't eaten or had anything to drink all day), it was quite the process...lots of pokes, jabs and tears. In the end, they weren't able to get enough blood for all of the necessary tests, so they sent another person into our room later for one more blood draw. Once that was complete we were able to start the antibiotics, and the doctor came in to talk to us. Ironically, the doctor has a little girl that Brooke goes to gymnastics with...small town! She told us to expect to be here until at least Wednesday evening, possibly Thursday morning. Between the high fevers (she's been close to 104 for 12 hours) and the urine sample, she said that Brooke most likely has a very aggressive kidney infection. She is concerned with how quickly Brooke became sick, so we have a renal sonogram (kidney ultrasound) scheduled for tomorrow morning, just to make sure everything is functioning properly. Our nurse has taken excellent care of Brooke, and in talking with her we realized that we go to the same church...once again, small town! She just came in to check on us one last time before heading home (actually had her purse on her shoulder and made a special trip to our room), and we should see her again sometime tomorrow. Brooke is sound asleep, and I'm about to make up the folding couch so I can try to get a little rest as well.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

2008-11-02T17:56:00.004-05:00

Brooke spent several hours looking at Halloween costumes on the internet before finally deciding she wanted to be a monkey. Bethany took about two seconds to decide she wanted to be a butterfly, so we headed out to the store to buy their costumes. Unfortunately, there were no monkey suits in Brooke's size, so Moo Moo came to the rescue and picked one up for us in College Station. Bethany happily picked out her butterfly suit, and was tickled to try it on for a 'fashion show' when we got home. However, once she heard Moo Moo had a monkey costume for Brooke, she insisted she had to be a monkey too. Brooke was not the least bit thrilled...she wanted to be the only monkey...and that made Bethany even more determined to ditch the butterfly costume. In the end, Brooke was okay with Bethany copying her, and they became 'Monkey See, Monkey Do' for Halloween...not a far stretch from our everyday life.

They waited not-so-patiently all day long, and could barely stand it when I told them it was time to get their costumes on. Suddenly, they turned into wild little monkeys, and they went crazy in our house! They were very curious, and found lots of trouble...like climbing on our furniture......and jumping on Brooke's bed!Then they headed out to visit their friend, Goob, the puppy that lives next door. She was able to sniff them out, and they were excited to get some candy from Mr. Ken.Some neighbors had invited us over for desserts before trick-or-treating, so we headed down to meet everyone. We had a huge group of kids, at least 15 little ones, all under the age of 4...it was crazy in that house! The girls have really enjoyed living on a street with so many playmates, and they were really excited to go trick-or-treating with their friends.We did a little snacking, and the kids played while we waited for it to get dark outside. One friend had silly glasses for everyone to wear...Bethany was not impressed, and gave her pair to Rob.

Our neighborhood was packed with trick-or-treaters...I have never seen so much craziness over candy. Apparently a lot of people drive into our neighborhood on Halloween, but they don't park at the end of the street and walk with their kids, they just drive up and down the road while their kids run from house to house. It was really chaotic, and a bit dangerous...I think we may go to our church for trunk-or-treat next year. Needless to say, we kept close tabs on the girls. Bethany was happy walking with me, and Brooke was delighted to hold hands with her friend, Lois.

When we got home, the girls were excited to see their pumpkins lit up on the front porch. In case you forgot, Bethany's is the 'very scary' one on the left, and Brooke's is the 'happy' one on the right.

The girls helped me pass out candy for a little while, and I think they had just as much fun with that as they did trick-or-treating. Brooke kept a watch out in the yard, and would yell back to me 'Mom, we have more customers coming!'. Bethany was so funny, she would ask each kid 'do you want some candy?'...um, yeah, that's why they're here! Once we ran out of treats, the girls dumped their buckets and started sorting their own candy. Bethany re-discovered her silly glasses, and this time she thought they were worth trying on.Brooke was beyond exhausted, but managed to sample a lollipop before heading to bed.

Getting Ready for Halloween

2008-10-31T12:20:00.006-04:00

We put things off until the last minute this year, and finally set down to carve pumpkins yesterday afternoon. The girls were really excited, we've had the pumpkins for a week now, and they have been waiting patiently to start working on them.

Once I cut the stem off, they were very interested in the 'guts' of the pumpkins. They just stood there looking inside for the longest time, I had to beg them to stick a hand in there and get to work.Bethany thought it was great fun...Brooke was not impressed. She told me she would never touch pumpkin guts, and moved to the top of the deckbox where she sat with the other (non-gutted) pumpkin. She had fun watching Bethany, but was not happy when Bethany decided to dangle pumpkin guts in her face...pesky little sister!

Rob arrived home right as we were cleaning up the pumpkin guts...perfect timing!

They each picked out their own pumpkin design, Brooke wanted something happy and Bethany wanted a very scary face. I printed out the patterns, taped them on the pumpkins, and got to work. Bethany was trying to be a helper, and I was worried her little fingers would get chopped off, she was constantly touching and petting her pumpkin.

Brooke had no part in carving her pumpkin, in fact, she hasn't touched it once since we gutted it. She did say she will sit by it when I put a candle in it, so hopefully we'll get a picture of their completed pumpkins tonight!

We also had a halloween gingerbread house to decorate, so Rob helped the girls with that while I cleaned up our huge pumpkin mess. I'm pretty sure they ate more icing than they put on the house (Rob included) but they had fun.They especially liked placing the little candies onto the roof and the front of the house...and, of course, eating them as they went along.The finished product...not too shabby!**If you are super-observant and wondering why you can see into all of our cabinets, it's because we are tackling another project. We are putting in wood floors next weekend, and decided to paint the cabinets. I've got the bases finished, just need to complete the doors and drawer fronts over this weekend.**

Keeping Busy

2008-10-25T11:14:00.003-04:00

Yesterday afternoon we spent a couple hours putting a storage shed together in the backyard. We are trying to clear out the garage, and really needed a new space for all of our yard tools. It is not unusual for tornadoes and hail storms to blow through here, so we are really happy that both vehicles can now fit in the garage.

Before starting the project, Rob put on some old workboots. Of course, the girls needed boots too, and the first pair they found were rainboots, which they thought were perfect for helping level the ground in. At this point, our yard has more dirt than grass, so leveling off a corner for the shed took no time at all!

The boxes that the shed came in were huge, and very heavy, so we decided to just unload piece by piece from the van to the backyard. The girls were a big help, and were happy that they were involved.

That was a lot of work, so the girls needed to take a break. They pulled out their chairs and settled in to watch for a few minutes.We kept losing the assembly directions, and every time we would find them in Bethany's little hands. They were playing 'storytime at the library' and Bethany was reading to Brooke. They thought it was a great game to steal the instructions...at least it kept them entertained.By the end of the evening, we were all tired and ready to go inside to eat the chili that was simmering on the stove. Bethany was about to fall asleep outside on the patio, and barely made it through dinner and a bath before totally passing out. And now we have a nice outside storage area for all the bulky stuff from the garage...love it!

Expo Weekend

2008-10-12T18:24:00.005-04:00

We spent last weekend in Austin, at Grandpa and Nana's house, with Rob's sisters and all the nieces and nephews. The girls were thrilled to see their cousins (they talk about them all the time) and Brooke was extra excited about Expo Weekend. She told us she had been waiting all year for this weekend! We met Grandpa in the afternoon, and had a great time visiting all of the booths and vendors.
The fire department had an area set up for the kids to dress up and extinguish a fake (wooden) fire with the big fire hoses. All of the cousins lined up, and Brooke could hardly wait for her turn.
She would have made her Uncle Travis proud, she had no fear and was a pro with that hose!

Bethany wasn't too sure about this firefighting business...

...she needed help from Daddy...

...and she was very happy when her turn was over.

They had fun digging for dinosaur fossils, and I think we came home with half the sand from the sandbox tucked away in their socks and shoes.

A favorite from last year was the booth with the horn toad masks. It was really hot last year, and the adults ended up stealing the masks to fan ourselves. This year it was great weather, so we let the kids keep their masks. Bethany had a little coloring help from Grandpa and Jimmy.
All the cousins, minus Baby Ava who was terrified of the masks.
The one thing the kids kept asking for was the fishing booth. We got there late this year, and the fish must have all been full because nobody caught anything, but they had fun trying.
Bethany gave up on the fish and decided to dunk her entire pole into the water...life is never boring with her around.
There were several exhibits that let the kids touch interesting skins, pet snakes and hold insects.

Bethany LOVES snakes, she always wants to pet them. I just hope she doesn't find one in our backyard and think it will be as friendly as the ones she's seen at the zoo and Expo.
Brooke was not interested in this little critter, but Bethany was happy to carry it around. She kept saying it was trying to eat her hand, and it felt tickly.
At the end of they day, Brooke was happy to hop on Rob's shoulders during the trek back to the busses...it was a long walk!
Bethany was happy to sleep in my arms, and then sleep through the bus ride back to our car, and then sleep some more on the way back to Grandpa and Nana's house...she was worn out!
And Rob was happy to have been with us this year for Expo Weekend.
Thank you, Barry and Valerie, for a great weekend!

Two Weeks Later...

2008-10-09T13:54:00.002-04:00

We pulled into the driveway on Monday afternoon, with both vehicles filled to the top, and it has felt a little like 'moving in' all over again. Rob had a ton of stuff with him in Maryland, he acquired lots of new books and papers in Florida, and we did a little shopping before leaving College Station, so we've spent the last few days finding a place for all his stuff. I just thought I had a lot of extra space in the computer room...not anymore!

We are definitely happy to ALL finally be here, and we've enjoyed having Rob home for the last few days. It's no secret that I don't cook much, and Rob has been using his new smoker to cook us some delicious dinners...yes, it's good to have him home! He reports to his new unit sometime tomorrow, and then we have a three day weekend to look forward to-perfect timing.

We spent last weekend in Austin, at the TPWD Expo Weekend with Rob's family. The girls had a blast playing with their cousins, and it was great to spend time with everyone. I hope to get the pictures up sometime today or tomorrow-it really was a lot of fun!

No Cavities!

2008-09-25T17:09:00.003-04:00

Brooke had her first dentist appointment this morning, and she was very excited! She has been looking forward to visiting the dentist ever since she saw pictures of her cousin, Shaley, going for her first cleaning. This morning she asked if I was a little bit shy about seeing the dentist when I was a little girl, and I could tell she was getting a bit nervous. I scheduled appointments for both of us, and she was able to watch me get my teeth x-rayed and cleaned, which helped calm her down. We had to wait a few minutes before her appointment started, so we were able to read a few books before going back.
Ms. Jayda was great with Brooke, she said she had to clean off some 'sugar bugs' and told Brooke that she had such beautiful teeth. Brooke sat completely still, with her mouth wide open, the entire time.
Bethany sat on a spinning stool, and had a great time twirling around and watching the tv in the room. At one point she had the dentist squirting her with water from across the room...she thought the dentist office was a fun place, and is looking forward to her turn!
Ms. Jayda told Brooke she did a great job, and then she went to find the dentist to come count her teeth. While she was out of the room, Brooke whispered to me that the dentist will have to count very high because she has a lot of teeth.
Dr. Privett told Brooke her teeth looked like jewelry, he said it was like looking at a little pearl necklace. She did very well during her appointment, and we were happy to find out that she has no cavities! Given the fact that she loves 'junks', I was a bit concerned. Brooke thought it was especially funny that her dentist was my dentist when I was a little girl...he told her that he used to clean my teeth and she started laughing.
At the end of her appointment, Brooke picked out a new purple princess toothbrush, and a small tube of toothpaste. She has been showing off her treasures all day...she's very proud of herself!

Ice Skating

2008-09-23T13:13:00.004-04:00

My sister, Ashley, is taking ice skating for her P.E. credit this semester, and she invited Brooke to join her and Shaley on the ice. They had a lot of fun, and did surprisingly well...they gave them little cones to push around to help them balance, and they had fun walking along the wall. A few times they ventured out without Ashley's help, and even though they had a few tumbles, they thought it was great! I wish I could be there to see Ashley's end-of-course performance...I'm thinking it will be along the lines of 'Blades of Glory'...sure to be entertaining!

Thanks for a fun afternoon!

Edit: I just found out that Ashley fractured her ankle this weekend while practicing her skating...looks like there won't be an entertaining performance after all. It really stinks that she hurt herself, she really loved the skating, but on top of that she is worried about completing the class. This is her last semester at Blinn before transferring to complete her studies, and she needs this credit to receive her associates degree. I'm sure it will work out somehow, but it's stressful for her right now.

On the road again...

2008-09-18T23:38:00.007-04:00

Rob finished his training yesterday, and after out-processing this morning, he started driving back to Maryland. He was almost to Georgia when I talked to him last, and sounded pretty tired...he might be looking for a hotel soon. I think he is going to try to get up early tomorrow so he can finish the last half of his trip and be in Maryland in time to watch the Aggie game. He will spend the next week out-processing the unit, and then I will fly up on Friday to drive back to Texas with him. One more week...I can't wait!

Another Baby

2008-09-18T23:38:00.005-04:00

I mentioned that we've all been sick the past week, but I failed to mention that I was also pregnant. Unfortunately, the pregnancy ended very soon...I only 'officially' knew for a couple of days before it was over. I say 'officially' because my body was screaming 'you're pregnant!' a week before I took the test, and I really only tested because I wanted to know if I was able to take some cold medicine.

Rob had mentioned trying for a third baby, and we decided to just go with a 'whatever happens, happens' approach. Given our fertility history, we should have known it wouldn't take long, and I think even Rob had a feeling there was something going on. I was waiting until next week to tell him, so I could see his reaction...now I wish I would have told him earlier so he could have shared the excitement. Instead, he is hundreds of miles away, trying to make sure that I'm okay and taking care of myself.

This baby passed earlier than the first baby we lost, and it was not nearly as physically painful. Once I knew the pregnancy was over I was able to start taking cold medicine, so just feeling better in that aspect was an improvement. And other than being a bit weepy at night (gotta love hormones and a quiet house) I'm feeling pretty good.

The girls have no idea that anything was happening, in fact I was talking to my mom on the phone about it, with them playing in the room with me, and they had no clue anything was wrong. I hadn't planned on telling them until we were much farther along (they don't have much patience), and if we do become pregnant again, we probably won't tell them for a while, just to make sure there are no problems.

I'm not really sure why I'm sharing this, other than it's night and the house is quiet and I was thinking about it...and I guess to let you know there might just be a little sister in the future (because, let's face it, that's all we seem to make around here!).