What A Week

So I offered to take Zoey while Zach and Liz went on a cruise and what a week it has been. I think Addi described it best yesterday when she said "Mom I used to want you to have more kids, but I think 5 is plenty!" I totally agree. Two 1 year olds and a 3 month old has proven to be just a bit much for me. Actually we have had the best day today...just in time for her to go home on Saturday. It has been fun to get to know her personality a little bit better and get to be the aunt for the week and not the mom. I have been however when all the kids are tired and whiny been superbly jealous of Zach and Liz on their cruise in peace and quiet, but oh well. We hope they had fun...I just don't want Zach to ever give me crap about my girls being dramatic again...Zoey has that MASTERED!!!
Top: Zoey after eating pasta for dinner.
And this is how we all felt at the end of the day. Aubrey couldn't quite make it Tuesday night to the end of dinner.

Understanding

So yesterday I had made some peanut butter cookies and Carson was whining about wanting anther "pookie" So I told him if he could say cookie then maybe I would consider it. So he sat by me and we worked on the "c" sound and out popped the word cookie. I was so excited and instead of saying "nah" he says yea. It is amazing what only one week after surgery has done. I am positive of what the dr said about him not being able to hear. Several times this week he has heard new sounds to him and to watch his expression is priceless. He heard the fan on in the living room and got frustrated because he couldn't figure out what was making that really soft humming noise. It has been fun to watch the progress in just the last few days and I am super excited about what is to come!

Couponing

So about a month back I decided to give this whole couponing thing a try. I was inspired by one of Jack's cousin's who has a small grocery store in her basement...thanks Kari! So I did it and ordered my five Sunday papers. I am by no means the best but I bought 5 tubes of Colgate toothpaste yesterday for $1. So I was very excited. So I then went to Target where I had a list of a few items. I was walking through the Tylenol isle to pick up my free Tylenol (which they were out of) and ran in to another couponer. So I was asking her a few questions and told her about my toothpaste deal to which she replied "I thought that used to be a good deal when I first started too!" I was super bugged. How the crap are these people getting things for FREE!!! People will tell you they haven't boughten toothpaste in years! So today I had my first lesson in free items. I bought 10 mens deoderant for FREE!!!! It was so super EXCITING! I love the feeling of seeing Jack's hard earned paychecks go farther! I am not gonna lie after today I am excited for my next big deal....whatever it is!

Surgery

Today was the day! Carson went in to have his tonsils and adenoids out. We had to check in to the hospital at 6:30 a.m. He woke up in a great mood. We had talked quite a bit about what would happen today so he was really excited for his bed that would go up and down. Here he is with Jack getting his hopital pajamas and socks on.

The nurses were great with him. He wasn't very chatting with them. Here he is getting his blood pressure taken.

So after this we waited till it was his turn. He really thought his bed was great. He watched cartoons and played rock, paper, scissors, with Jack and got a blessing. So around 8 they came in and gave him some tylenol and his loopy medicine and he got to go for a ride to the surgical holding area.

Here he is after his ride and his meds had kicked in full gear. I have to say Jack and I giggled quite a bit at him. He wanted to keep sitting up but would tip over so we each stood on either side of him so he wouldn't hit his head on the rails. The anethesia man talked to us and gave him a strawberry flavored gas mask and away he went. I fed Brody and about 10 mins later Dr. Hanks came in and talked to us. Told us everything had gone great and that his adenoids were HUGE! He said they took him to 1st recovery for about 45 mins and then he would wake up and we could be with him. So Jack went and got us some breakfast. They came and got us even before he was done and took us to his recovery room. That was the hard part. He was crying and didn't know what was fully going on. He apparantly had a TON of air in his belly and was feeling sick from that. I couldn't get him to settle down in his bed so the nurse let me rock him and I fed him a few bites of a popsicle before he fell asleep. Here is the part where mom cried. I felt so horrible for him. He had a bit of a hard time keeping his oxygen levels up so he did have some oxygen for awhile but when he woke up again he was great. His breath smells burned so he can't get enough popsicles.

Here he is in his wheel chair all ready to go home. We stopped at Walmart and picked up TONS of popsicles, jello, and pudding on the way home. Along with Walgreens for Antibiotics and pain meds. I am keeping him on the pain meds all day in hopes of keeping him comfortable. He has just been sitting on the couch watching movies with his siblings. I can't even get him to take a nap, though I can tell he is exhauted. He has a follow up with Dr. Hanks in a week and a half, until then I am supposed to keep him "down" as much as possible. Yikes!

Brody is 2 Months!

My baby boy is already two months old. He took his shots like a champ...a little fussy in the evening but did really well. He is smiling a lot and cooing. He loves his mommy! He reminds Jack of that dinosaur show that used to be on when we were growing up and that baby would yell "not the mommy, not the mommy!" He loves to lay on the living room floor and have people talk to him. Jackson likes to rock him and Addi is the master burper. At his checkup he weighed in at 11pds 9 ozs. and 24 inches. He really hasn't grown in quite a few weeks. He seems to have leveled out. On the other news front, Aubrey is talking a ton. Everyday comes out more and more words. She is really fun. We love to hear her say Cory. It is so stinkin cute. When Cory comes over and they chant eachothers name back and forth...pretty funny. Carson goes in for surgery on Wednesday. This mommy will be happy when it is all over with. We took Addi and Jackson out to lunch last Saturday for great report cards. They are really doing so great. Addi is loving learning how to read and is doing great. Jackson lost a tooth last Sunday and the tooth fairy finally decided to come last night. Opps!!! Other than that life is going on as usual, with not enough hours in the day to get everything done.

Long Day with Carson

This is what my poor little Carson looks like right now. We sure had a long day for a three year old little boy. It started off with a meeting with the Speech Therapist. We have long been concerned with Carson's speech and decided with his teachers that now would be a good time to have him checked. The speech therapist is also concerned but he tested two points away from what was needed to receive speech therapy through the school. They also determined some potential problems with his adenoids (SP?). So then followed a dr. appt with our normal pediatrician and then some x-rays of his face and throat. They are a bit concerned about maybe some hearing problems because of his adenoids and maybe some sleep apnea. We meet with the ENT Dr. one week from today. He did really great but was very hesitant about talking to the "talking teacher". So he was promised ice cream with mom if he did okay, and he did great. He was fantastic with the teacher, dr.'s, and nurses who did all sorts of things to him today. I am determined to fight about his adenoids. He has grown by leaps and bounds this last six months but I think he does have something going on that we need to find. The speech therapists will continue to track his progress and we will have him evaluated again at the end of the year.
On a great note, my little Brody is growing like a week. Jack said this morning he needs to learn to walk or his legs will be dragging on the ground when we carry him. I am putting 0-3 month things away and breaking out the 3-6 month cloths because he is so long. He really is pretty scrawny except his chubby little cheeks.

A Boy and His Dog

I really am going to be better journaling this year but using my blog since I NEVER write things done otherwise...My Christmas present to myself is going to have it printed at the end of the year. Yesterday we put out a little bowl of little smokies and BBQ sauce for the dog (YoYo). Jackson came home from school and YoYo still hadn't eaten any of them. The following conversation then happened...
Jackson- Mom I think something is wrong with YoYo
Mom- Why is that?
Jackson- He hasn't eaten any of the little smokies and he eats everything! I went outside and felt the top of his head and he doesn't feel like he is running a temperature.
Mom- (I really tried hard to pull it together and not bust out laughing in his face) I just think YoYo doesn't like the BBQ sauce.
Jackson- Oh well thats okay then, I thought maybe he was getting sick.
This is the prime example of how sweet and loving Jackson is. He is always concerned for others and their feelings. He is doing great in school and working hard. After this conversation I had to go to my bedroom and call Jack. It was just so cute. On a side note Carson is having some speech testing tomorrow...we'll see what happens. He is growing leaps and bounds in his speech but still struggles. He also has woken up dry for 4 nights in a row so he got to try out his scooter. He was super excited because Aubrey hasn't worn diapers at night for a month or two already and he is kinda feeling left behind. We are really getting into a great routine with the baby and the kids. We are all getting cabin fever so we are headed to Utah in a few weeks where we booked a hotel for a night so the kids can just swim and play. Oh hurry summer!!!