Good news all around

Today was a good day, though if you were to ask one little red head I don't think she would agree. We started out at our favorite photographers studio getting the kids their Easter photos taken. This is our third year and they just get better and better. The bunnies were adorable, even though Xander was the only one who wanted to get close to them. I can not wait to get the photos back...we always just love them. I attached Amanda's info, if anyone local wants to check it out she is doing the pics through the weekend. We got home and the trio decided to have a little tea party, Xander's monkey was the special guest of honor LOL. Jericho got in on the monkey action too :)

O.J. was entertaining Jericho, lots of giggles and smiles for the kitty.

Jericho is 3 months old today...he was being a ham.

Our new sofa arrived today...we LOVE it!!! It takes up a good amount of room, but it's so nice to have more seating for everyone. Kinda funny, the driver actually helped Jason move it inside, they are not supposed to do that so that was very nice of him. Anyway, come to find out he has a new baby girl born the same day as Jericho...and her name is Lily.

The news that didn't make everyone happy, Lily is no longer backed up. The Pedi got it out manually today, I guess after going on for a month and trying just about everything they figured it was time. He thinks he got it all and while it was big the Pedi was surprised it wasn't bigger. If this keeps up he wants to test her for some disease that Jason couldn't remember the name of (so helpful) I will grill him further when he gets home. Update Hirshsprung's is what it's called. Poor Lily did not have a fun visit...hopefully we never have to go through all this again. She is on miralax every day for at least the next few months. I hope she isn't too traumatized by all this...no 2 1/2 year old should have their bum messed with so many times! For the rest of the night tonight she kept telling us "the Doctor hurt my butt" :(

Carseat crazy

We had a gym class tonight, Lily seemed up to it and the other two were itching to get out. It went well, didn't work anything loose for Lily but everyone had fun.

In other news... I am happy about the press the change to carseat rec. by the AAP has been getting. I kept my 90th percentile height and weight kiddos rear facing until they were over 2 years old. They are all over 35lbs now and still in 5pt harnesses and will be for a very long time. The story below was taken from a fellow mom's blog, just another reminder about the safety a carseat can provide...and this one has a happy ending.

Why I do what I do Most of you know I'm carseat crazy. You may even think I'm bordering (or even crossed the border) on carseat insane. But do you know why I do what I do? Because it saves lives. How many times do we see on the news that children, parents, families died in a horrible car crash. My job is to try and prevent those stories. I have a friend, named Anne. Anne is just as carseat crazy as I am. What I am posting below, is her story. She and her family were in a crash a few days ago. They could have easily been one of those stories on the news. But they weren't, because Anne is carseat crazy. Make sure you read the entire thing. Ready how many times they crashed and rolled. And read what the (very few) injuries were. Then look at the pictures. On our way to Phoenix, just a few miles away, my husband (driving our 2002 Odyssey) hit an obstacle in the road. We don't know what it is, but we all felt the bump, then were airborne, and onto a gravel shoulder. We skidded on the gravel. The van hit a barrier (right at the rear driver's side, where my 4 year old daughter was seated.) It then flipped across the highway. My husband was braking the whole way. (He had just had the tires rotated and pressure checked, and the brakes replaced.) It slowed us considerably. We went into a ditch at an angle and became airborne. We went down on the passenger side of the vehicle, nose first, and then flipped over upside down. My daughters (the 4 year old, almost 5, and her 2 sisters, 6 almost 7 and 2 almost 3) were screaming. This meant they were alive and I was glad. My husband and I were suspended by our (properly worn) seatbelts. I had significant neck pain. My husband was able to exit the vehicle fairly easily, but I was trapped; I had to be extracted with the Jaws of Life (after fending off a bystander who wanted to cut my belt with a pen knife and pull me out, yelling at him, "Do not cut my seatbelt! Wait until the EMTs arrive to hold c-spine! If you want to do something, get me a jacket and treat me for shock!") My 4 and 6 year olds were harnessed properly in properly installed and used, tethered seats. (The 6 year old is usually boostered, but because it was a late night trip I didn't want to risk her falling asleep and falling out of position.) My 2 year old was rear-facing. The heavy cargo in the van was all packed tightly down in the bottom of the trunk, compartmentalized behind and under the seat as much as possible before we left. My husband and I had our seatbelts and headrests properly fastened and adjusted and were seated in proper position. My husband has a mild lung contusion and abrasions from his seatbelt and "road burn." I have a lot of stitches in my arm (which dragged along the ground outside the car-- the trauma surgeon says that the braking slowed us enough to save me from having it ripped off) and on my face and bruising all over. My 6 year old has minor abrasions (more road burn) and bruises. My 4 year old, with the most severe injuries, suffered a severe cut to her foot (aptly and completely repaired by great surgeons) and a broken leg (remember, she was AT the first point of impact, a side impact.) My 2 year old, who was in the rear-facing seat, was completely unharmed. Not a mark on her. Nothing. Despite the fact that we landed on the side of the car she was on (she was behind me, I was in the second row passenger seat, and the forward-facers were second and third row driver's side.)

You can see photos of the car on this blog WOW!

Where to start

Should I start with the poop retention saga, or how about a first visit to the dentist, or better yet the drama that comes with thumb sucking cessation? Lets just go in order shall we... On the poo saga I have nothing good to report. Lily didn't enjoy 2 1/2 days of applesauce and jello, plus mega doses of Miralax and a 3rd enema...it also did nothing to get the big blockage out. She was back into the Pedi today, they did another exam and can still feel what's holding up the works, and it's big. He said it could probably clog a toilet it's so big...owie my poor baby. They told us to do an enema every day for the next 3 days along with ducolax suppositories, plus the double dose miralax then we will go back in for a recheck. He doesn't like the going in to break it up option because it is so high up. He said we could go on like this for 10-14 days before we would have to get more invasive...grr it's already been a good 2 weeks. She is getting lots of sludge stuff around the blockage so I guess they are not too worried about letting it go on. We have been doing around the clock diaper changes so we got her horrible rash cleared up. I hate waiting but I guess that's where we are right now, at least they cleared her to go back to eating normally. It's no fun to have a hungry 2 1/2 year old who doesn't understand why you won't feed them :( On top of that you have your other 2 1/2 year olds not only sneaking her food but making you look like a jerk in the process since you won't feed their sister and they will. I was cleaning up toys while they were finishing lunch and heard Lily say "I want some," a little bit later I hear the same thing again. I look into the kitchen and see Hayden putting some of her food into Lily's hand, then again. When Hayden ran out of food she held her hand out to Xander who gave her two bits of what he had left, Hayden kept one for herself and passed the other to Lily. It made my heart happy to see them being so sweet to each other...even if Lily wasn't supposed to be having that. They aren't always sweet though, the girls have gotten into the habit of throwing others under the bus...and it's usually poor Xander. When we go to do anything for them, change their diapers, get them dressed, put them to bed...etc., all we hear is "no, Xander first" LMAO. Poor Xander just stares at them in total disbelief of their blatant mutiny. Next fun thing on the day's to do list...take the trio to their first dentist appointment. The office was really cool, they had lots of great toys, a huge tank full of turtles and another one with a lizard in it. The Nurses and Dentist were really nice and very slow with the kids. We actually didn't even get to the regular dentist chair today. We were shown into a small room with a giant bean bag chair and a bunch of stuft animals, they also had The Lion King playing on a TV in there. The Dentist came in talked to each kid, showed them a mirror and light and went over that she was going to count their teeth. One by one they sat in my lap then laid their head in the Dentists lap and got their teeth looked over. They each cried but only Hayden flipped out, we figured it would be her LOL. They were sent home with new tooth brushes and cute little rubber duckies that were their prizes for being so good. No one had any cavities but they all have their front teeth starting to buck out from thumb sucking, so we were given 'Mavala Stop' to paint on their thumbs. Which brings us to the drama that comes with thumb sucking cessation. We put the stuff on around 8:45 tonight, they don't suck their thumbs all that often except when they go to bed, so they had no idea what we were setting them up for. Bed time came and they got changed and put in their cribs...after kissing everyone in the house. This has become a new thing, the girls especially have to kiss me, Jason, Jericho, Xander and each other before every nap and bed time...it's sweet. Anyway they get into bed, get under their covers and are happy as Jason starts to read their bed time story...Cat In The Hat, the same bed time story we have been reading them for the last 6 months, goodness please can they fall in love with a new book now?! All of a sudden they all start crying and bitching about their thumbs being yucky. We do feel bad but the Dentist said if we can break it before they turn three the damage that has been done will more than likely correct itself...after three and you are looking at braces or something to fix things. Xander actually threw up his dinner, it's always fun to tear down and remake a bed at bed time. I think it was a mixture of the thumb crap and that he has been feeling sick the last two days. He had a 103 temp both last night and tonight...poor boy, I hope whatever it is it comes and goes quickly without getting everyone in the house sick. What a day...I am beat! So cute and chipper this morning. The Dentist office. Here lizard, lizard, lizard. Checking out the turtles. We are thinking of maybe doing this with our tank. All our fish died again...maybe turtles will be the trick. Yeeee Hawww! Take me to your leader. The room where we got to meet the Dentist. Their goodies...they love these ducks. Goodnight kisses for everyone.

Awww even when things are rough life is good!!!!

The saga continues

We took Lily back to the Doctor's today, the plan now is to do 4 cap fulls of miralax in 20oz of juice per day and no food other than jello, for up to two days. If by Sun. or Mon. she has not passed it then we will head into the hospital. She is getting a lot of sludge and liquid out so she is feeling a bit better but the solid ball that is blocking the works is still there. I hope this works, and I hope she isn't too upset about not being able to eat, though she isn't really too into food right now anyway. I vow we will never slack on the miralax again, I feel so bad for poor Bug. She is just the sweetest little thing and I hate seeing her in pain. I have been waking her in the middle of the night to change her an extra time, with all the miralax she has a lot of liquid coming out and her poor tush is just tore up. So we try to change her often and lather her in butt cream. Lily now asks for "butt cream in my butt" LOL.
Even in pain Lily thinks of others, the Doctor's give out a sticker at the end of every visit...the last two times she went Lily brought back a sticker for Hayden and Xander too :) When Lily got home from her Doctor visit today Hayden and Xander gave her cards they had made for her with Tabitha's help. Lily opened them and looked them over then hugged them and said "Oh how beautiful." God I love my kids!

We had some friends over for dinner tonight, they have an almost 7 year old boy, his name is Zander, and an 8 year old daughter. The kids played played the 'Just Dance Kids' Wii game for a good hour and a half...the adults even got in on it a bit. I think they are all going to sleep well tonight.


Lily at the Doc's. I love how they have each room a different theme, Lily had never seen their Mickey room, she couldn't believe her little eyes.

Hayden showing off the princess sticker Lily picked out for her.

Lily really loved her cards :)

Jericho was ever so handsome...and happy...today.

Lots of smiles and laughs now...so adorable!

Some dance fun, the trio don't quite get it but they try.

While the big kids were working up a serious sweat dancing, mine were cleaning house LOL.

This is going to sound totally crazy, I mean he is not even rolling over yet, but he is trying to walk. When you hold his arms he supports his weight for a min or two and with help actually tries to take steps forward. I am not the only one who he did this with, he did it with Tabitha and she came to tell me about it...I told her he had done it with me earlier too.