What a Weekend!

This holiday weekend our plans were to go camping with Paul's family at the annual camp out at Honeyman State Park south of Florence. We had the trailer mostly packed the night before so we could leave when Drew got home from school early Friday. We received a phone call at 8 am from Paul's brother-in-law, letting us know that Paul's mom was in the ER with what turned out to be a heart attack. Luckily, she was feeling sick and got there before she had the heart attack so they were immediately able to help her. We changed our plans to a wait-and-see approach. If she was stable and doing well we would maybe go camping, since neither one of us wanted to break it to the kids that we weren't. I admit I wasn't thrilled with the idea of camping for 3 days in the freezing rain on the coast, but that would have been a million times better than how the weekend eventually turned out!

We ended up parking the trailer at my parent's house and Paul visited his mom in the ICU. She was very sick so we decided we would at least spend the night there and see what the next day brought us. She was still pretty sick that day so we decided the thrill of the idea of camping was gone and we would probably spend one more night and then go home. Well, Saturday morning Mason woke up crying because his hip hurt. I thought it was probably a pulled muscle or something from playing so hard with his cousins on Friday. He was actually limping so I knew it was something other than a sore muscle. He kind of limped around all day, but he also went on a long nature walk with us and jumped on the trampoline at his cousins' house so I figured he was OK. That evening he was complaining that his knee on the same leg hurt. Then he woke up at 4 in the morning crying in pain and couldn't walk to the bathroom. He was also saying his ankle hurt. So I packed him up and off we went to Urgent Care while Paul had the girls and went to his mom's house to do some things. I took grandpa along too so he could heft Mason's 48 lbs in and out of chairs for me. At this point Mason was totally unable to put any pressure on his left leg. At Urgent Care he had x-rays done, which ruled out a dislocation or a fracture, but it didn't show anything about the fluids in the hip joint. The doc said if it was an adult he would send them home to rest for a few days but they don't mess around with kids and pain. He flinched as I a told him of Mason's recent bout with Scarlet Fever and sent us on the the ER. At the same hospital grandma was at! When we got there a very nice nurse was able to guess Mason's name and his owie (Urgent care called ahead) and Mason was extremely impressed. He even got a wheelchair ride! We were making a list of all the things he had to tell Drew about. At the ER he had his blood drawn, which thankfully Paul happened to be there for to help hold him down, and they left the tube thingy there in case they needed it later. Ugh. Not fun. He also got to pee in a jug and was very impressed at how full he got it. He had an ultrasound done and they discovered an excess amount of fluid in his joint. The resident on call decided he wasn't knowledgeable enough to make a call whether his joint was just irritated or whether it was infected so he called in his boss, the big gun with 30 years of experience. Thankfully he was in charge from then on so we know we got the best care possible. They were pretty certain that it was just irritated and would heal on its own in a few days of bed rest, but they wanted to be 100% sure it wasn't infected because that affects growth plates and bone and can do all kinds of nasty damage. So they decided to tap his hip for a sample of the fluid. Tapping a joint for fluid means sticking a LONG needle directly into the joint and sucking out the fluid. UGH! They recommended knocking him out and I thought that was a great idea! Until they wheeled him into a room with about 15 adults and scary equipment and told me to wait in the hall. I asked if I could kiss him first and they let me. I tried my best to give him a pep talk but I would have been scared if I was a 5 year old kid all alone with that stuff too. I could hear him crying and yelling as they were moving him around and trying to hook his IV up to the knock-out drugs. I will admit that I shed a tear or two at this point also. I just wanted to hold his hand and be there with him! By this time I had been with Mason for 8 hours and Paul and I decided to switch places and he would take over admitting him to the hospital for the night and stay with him, since they didn't want to do an invasive procedure and then just send him home. Also, if it was infected he would need immediate surgery to clean out the joint. I went back to the girls and Paul stayed with Mase for the night. Luckily the fluid was not infected and it was just irritated. They told us it was probably related to his scarlet fever. Scary stuff! I had no idea it could affect someone so badly a month later. I will keep my eye on Darcy now too since she had it the same time Mason did. We also learned that scarlet fever has a genetic tendency, which would explain why Drew, Mason, and Darcy have all had it and I thought it was pretty much an unheard of disease any more. Mason was released around 11am Monday morning with orders of bed rest and penicillin to fight off any infection that might want to start up around the procedure site. Thankfully Mason came out of this all OK with a couple of good stories to tell his family.

Paul's mom, on the other hand, isn't doing so well. They found a valve in her heart that isn't working properly so she is having surgery to fix it tomorrow. Paul will be heading back down to be with her too.

Here is Mason in the hospital with his somewhat concerned sisters. See those things on his chest? Well they were stuck on him for his procedure and I ripped the one off his tummy and one off his chest but after that he wouldn't let me anywhere near him. He was also deathly afraid of the band aid they wanted to put on his IV site. So we wrapped an ace type bandage over some gauze and called it good. Last night while he was sleeping I ripped the band aid off his leg at the procedure site and I also got the last remaining sticky thing off his chest. He cried for about 2 seconds and then went right back to sleep. I told him about it this morning and he just giggled, thankfully. I'm glad he doesn't hate me! Today he scored the new Pirates of the Caribbean Lego game for the XBOX, hoping that would keep him in one place. He has actually walked a bit and he says he isn't hurting. I don't want him to over do it but its hard to keep Mason down for long. They told us this shouldn't ever happen again so hopefully we are done with all the sickness and doctors and urgent cares, and emergency rooms for about 10 years or so!

Finally 5!

Mason finally turned 5! He had a countdown for I don't know how long, waiting for his big day. He is so excited, as am I, for all the fun things that happen when he is 5. I think 3 and 5 are my favorite ages with my kids so far because its so exciting to watch all the learning that takes place. Mason is no exception. He is a smart little guy and cannot wait to get to go to "Drew's school." He just wants to skip summer and start immediately. Its going to be a loooong summer for him, and for me since he asks me a few times each day when he gets to go to school!

This year for his birthday Grandma and Grandpa joined us for pizza and cake. His cake was pretty cool this year, bees and a bee hive, but not nearly as awesome as his volcano cake I made last year so I didn't include a picture :) For his presents he got a Lego fire truck, a bug house and magnifying glass (both of which have been constantly in use), and a new bike! 5 is the magical age at our house to get your first bike. Mase picked out the one he wanted a few weeks before his birthday but he must have forgotten because he was pretty much speechless when we opened the front door and there is was! He immediately hopped on, proceeded to crash, and decided he didn't like the darn bike after all. He is a total perfectionist and if he doesn't get something exactly right the first time he is done with it. Tough way to live, kid! Thankfully Grandma was there to give him a pep talk and he has been riding ever since. In fact, he is driving me crazy because he constantly watches the rain showers and lets me know when its dry enough to ride. Oh how I love my little guy! But, he is not so little. He is taller at 5 than Drew was when she turned 6. He is still shorter than her but is catching up. They both weigh 48 lbs too!

So This year Mason's favorites are:

Food - Cheeze its, peanut butter sandwich, pizza

Movie - Lilo and Stitch, Hoodwinked, Tron Legacy

Color- blue, orange

Animal - dog

Favorite part of preschool - Snack time

This year he has thankfully changed his career aspirations to wanting to be a soldier instead of the McDonald's worker he wanted to be last year. Life with Mason is always exciting. I would love to have his energy, but he could maybe use some of my self control. Once he figures out how to channel it into something productive he will be a force to be reckoned with. I couldn't ask for a sweeter little guy as my only son. We love you Mase and are so happy to have you in our family!

Happy Easter!

We had a BUSY Easter weekend this year. Actually, the entire week leading up to it was busy too. With it being so late this year, Drew's birthday was actually the Wednesday before, so we had a family party for her, plus the friend party the Saturday before. I was also trying to work a bunch of hours that week so I had to be pretty efficient with my time! Saturday morning before Easter we headed to Paul's mom's house where we got to visit with her and some of the kids' cousins. The oldest had set up an egg hunt for the kids and they had fun looking around grandma's front yard for the prize eggs. Grandma's front yard has a huge slope to it and once Bree started heading down her little legs were working hard to keep up with the momentum of her large head! She almost made it to the bottom when she fell and rolled once before I was able to catch up and scoop her up. She thought it was great fun.

From there, we crossed town to my parent's house for the annual family Easter party. 19 of the 20 grand kids made it this year. I think they were told to make silly faces for this picture but for some of them, its a definite improvement ;) I believe they range in age from 18 years - 15 months. My kids are #12, 16, 17, and 20.

If we wanted to eat we were required to wear hats. Mason made his own visor with stickers on it and I was wearing the hood of one of his coats.

Grandma had quite the hat, as you can see. She left it on most of the party. What a good sport! She is famous for her dangly earrings that correspond with whatever the season or holiday may be, but she took the whole fashion thing to greater heights I think.

Bree wasn't sure what the heck she was doing. I think she figured out she needed to pick these colorful things up, but didn't know what to do with them once she got them. She would put one down to pick up another. We had a great time hanging out with so much family that day. We had great food, a massive egg hunt, an egg toss, and and egg drop. We were the winners of the last one but balloons were outlawed this year (our egg would have survived being dropped out of a plane I bet, surrounded by balloons), so we went with fiberglass insulation. Didn't work. The winners used bubble wrap which to me is just miniature balloons, right? I protest! After the party we came home to sleep in our own beds in hopes that the Easter Bunny would visit.

Sure enough! There were 4 baskets of goodies and eggs hidden all over the house when we woke up! Bree didn't bother getting up with the rest of us, and it was probably easier on me to have her keep sleeping anyway. The kids found 57 dyed eggs (3 broke during the dying process) and never ate a single one of them. Good thing eggs are cheap.

Darcy was a great hunter. I think she came away with more than Mason. He is a bit skittish sometimes and hunting eggs is one of those time.

The Easter Bunny had to find some more difficult hiding spots this year for Drew. The middle of the floor just isn't hidden enough for her anymore.

Later on Sunday we went to church and then headed north to have dinner with Paul's sister and family. We had a great time visiting and playing with their dog, while it was in its cage of course. It was a very busy weekend but it was filled with fun, food, and family. What a great way to celebrate!

Someone is 7!

I have officially been a mommy now for 7 years! And what a ride it has been. I couldn't have asked for a better daughter than my Drew, except maybe for Darcy or Bree, but they aren't old enough to read this and since this is about Drew's birthday, I will just say that I couldn't have asked for a better daughter than Drew! What a sweetheart this girl is. She is a great helper with her younger siblings and is quick to come to Bree or Darcy's aid when they need help. Mason . . . not so much. They love to play together though so I am not complaining too loud. This birthday was a bit different for me. We actually threw our first non-family birthday party with school friends. Her teacher's class policy is to invite all girls, which in this case was 13! Drew assured me that all 13 girls would be there, even though I only received 5 RSVP's, so to be on the safe side I made 48 cupcakes that the girls would decorate themselves. Well, only 3 girls showed up. We had tons of cupcakes and candy left over so Drew and Mason set up a table in the driveway advertising free cupcakes to whomever would come take them off our hands. We had a few takers, thank goodness! Drew wasn't too disappointed at the small turnout and I can't say I was either. Fewer kids = less hassle for me! The friend party was Saturday but her real birthday was yesterday. We had tacos for dinner and angel food cake with strawberries for dessert. She picked up a few gifts, but my favorite is the Michael Jackson Dance Experience for the Kinect. I am not quite as good a dancer as I once thought I was, I have discovered! Another reason this birthday was different is that Drew is growing up. She actually wanted nail polish! Heaven help me, I am raising a girl! I'm not sure how that happened but I will try my best to steer her in that direction if that is where she is headed. I wasn't sure if toys were appropriate or exactly what to get her this year. Its fun to watch her grow up but its also kind of tough to watch her grow up. I am great with diapering baby buns, I don't really know what to do for a 7 year old. I guess Drew will be our guinea pig, as she has been for all other stages. Poor kid. Let's see, she is in bed so I will have to guess at her favorites.

Singer: Michael Jackson

Food: tacos, chicken stir-fry, rice

Toys: Legos

Color: Red

Movies: Harry Potter series, Indiana Jones series, Star Wars series

Animal: Hippos

Drew's 2 bottom teeth in the front are loose but they aren't coming out anytime soon. She hasn't lost any teeth yet but doesn't seem to mind too much. I just hope when the time comes to pull them out she will do it so I don't have to. Yuck! Her reading abilities have exploded over the last year and she loves to read. She is trying to teach Mason how to also. Now that is fun to watch.

Happy birthday Drew! We all love you so much and are so blessed to have you in our family!

5 down, 1 to go.

The past 2 weeks have been rough on the immune systems around our house. Drew came down with a cold and sore throat but she was able to shake the sore throat after a day or two so we didn't take her to see a doctor. A couple days later Mason woke up and pretty much remained flat on his back for the next 3 days till mom finally decided to take him to Urgent Care after complaints of a sore throat, headache, horrible cough, nose bleeds, and a fine red rash. The tests came back positive for strep throat and scarlet fever. He also had an x-ray taken of his chest, which he totally loved because he could see his heart and bones, and they also threw a diagnosis of pneumonia in there for good measure. I was pretty sure Darcy had strep too, so the next day she went to see her doctor and as I pulled her sweatshirt off, the doctor and I noticed a fine red rash on her torso. Yep, scarlet fever and strep. The very next day Bree woke up with a temp of 101.8 so I took her to urgent care, and I was feeling funny in my throat so I checked us both in to be tested for strep. Neither of our tests came back positive. I was told Bree probably has a cold virus, which of course there is no medicine for for babies, so she has been suffering with her dry, barking seal coughs for days now. A couple days later, Paul started to feel under the weather. He finally got in to urgent care yesterday where he was diagnosed with pneumonia! He has been out of work for 3 days now and feeling pretty awful. As I type this I can feel a tightening in my throat. I hope it is just sympathy pains, but I wouldn't be surprised to wake up tomorrow and find myself in the same boat as the rest of the family. I am so very grateful that we live in an age where illnesses like scarlet fever and pneumonia no longer have to mean permanent damage or even death. What a blessing it is to have competent doctors and readily available medicines accessible at a moment's notice. It hasn't been an easy 2 weeks on me, or the rest who have actually suffered the sicknesses, but we are thankful for all the thoughts, prayers, and kind acts from everyone who helped us get through this mess just a little bit easier.

I'm one!

Happy birthday Bree! She has learned so much over the past year, including bad habits from a certain sibling. Its hard to believe my baby is 1! Where did the time go? Bree has been a huge blessing to our family. Once she got over the constant screaming for the first 4 months of her life, she developed into a happy, content, smiley, little person. She is just so much fun to have around. Unless you are Darcy and then you would like life to go back to how it was pre-Bree. I don't think those two will ever be best friends. They seem to live to torment each other. Bree is not afraid of a fight either. I have found them on the floor with Bree biting Darcy while her hand is full of red hair, pulling as hard as she can. I so look forward to them growing up together! Bree is walking, almost full-time, but still drops to a crawl when she needs to get somewhere fast. She has 5 teeth, says "momma, and dadda" and can wave goodbye. She'll figure everything else out in her own time. I stopped reading about milestones after Mason. Kids seem to figure out whatever they need to in their own sweet time.

Some of Bree's favorites, and this is pretty much in order: Gerber Graduates Yogurt Melts, mom, sleep, chocolate milk, but only if its out of Darcy's cup and she is watching so she will scream, mom, dad, cheese, mom, noisy toys. That about sums up Bree to this point. She only weighs 19 lbs according to her check-up two days ago, which makes her by far my smallest kid at this age. She is our "little bit." We are so happy she is with us for eternity and can't wait to watch her grow and fulfill her endless potential. Happy birthday Little Bit!

Fun at the Beach

Last weekend we packed up the car and headed to Lincoln City to join the rest of Paul's family for some fun at the beach. We had a beautiful, huge, house to share, right on the beach. The view was amazing and so was the weather. It was dry, realtively warm, and Sunday was absolutely clear and gorgeous. It was hard to believe it was January and not July. A few of us even braved wading in the waves, though I wouldn't recommend it. The initial shock of the freezing cold water turned into the ache of freezing feet. Here is a picture of most of the crew. Paul seems to be missing. Probably taking the picture.
Here is Paul with his family. Roland, Paul, Mom, Carmen, and Alloa. Good looking bunch!

Bree's cousin Koa had a thing for babies. Looks like Bree didn't mind him too much either. What she did mind was our sleeping arrangements. She does not like sleeping in the playpen but there is no where else for her to go. I know sometime in the night she will be crying to crawl into bed with me and I would go the rest of the night without sleep as she rolls and climbs all over me. This is precisely what happened the first night. Usually the second night is OK because we are all so exhausted from the first night we sleep like rocks. Not so this time. She decided to wake up at 11pm and was still awake at 2:15am. I think just about every adult in the house tried to work their magic on Bree to get her back to sleep. I finally grabbed her in a bear hug and didn't let go till she went to sleep. She needs to figure out real quick how to sleep while on vacation because our family likes to travel a lot and we aren't letting miss Breezy get in our way. That only works when you're the first child.

Here are some of us getting our feet wet. It was so freezing cold!

My cuties. I can't believe how big they are all getting.

We had a great time hanging out with all the family. Saturday night we had a talent show with some great talent showcased. And also some other stuff that I refrained showing pictures of in order to protect reputations. Lets just say it was an eye opening experience. I have to say though, I give props to the family because my side of the family would never try anything like that. We would all be too embarrased or shy to stand up in front of others and make fools of our selves. I mean, show our talents to others ;) Now that we have had a taste of the beach and the sunshine I am ready to move on into spring and summer and the outdoors.