Glue Gun uses.....NOT!

With our warmer weather over the past few days, I have been able to break out some different clothes for the kids. Kaitlynn has this really cute purple striped dress that ties around the back that makes it look like a baby-doll dress with matching leggings. It is really cute.

Or should I say WAS really cute. I let Kaitlynn wear it to school the other day. She loves the ties on the back of the dress that she consistently unties the stings and plays with them. While on the playground the other day she thought she would cause a little excitement by tying her dress to the swing she was on. Only to discover she tied it too tight and when it was time to go back inside she was stuck to the swing.

As I am sure she panicked and kept pulling all she did was make the knot tighter. The teachers tried to no avail to untie it that they finally had to concede and cut the strings to get her loose.

When she walked in the door from the neighbors house after school, Kaitlynn looks at me and says, "Mommy, I am really sorry but you are going to be SOOO SOOO mad at me."

Not really sure how to respond I ask the scary open-ended question, "WHY!"

She tells me in her own way what happened in the school yard and the story matched with what the teacher wrote in her agenda. So I can't fault her for lying but she just shrugged her shoulders as to why she did it. A little frustrated I asked her to turn the big light on in the living room so I could inspect the back of the dress.

As I inspected, I can do one of two things.......cut the strings off completely and you would never know or shorten the stings and I think it could still tie and look ok....just not as nice as when I bought it.

When I explained the choices to her she kind of had this blank stare and finally asked me, "Can you use your hot glue gun and glue it back together??"

Again............My children win as I am speechless and was not prepared for the creativity of that question.

After, I regained my composure as I was laughing on the inside I just simply told her that, that was not a possibility and I would have to think about what I was going to do.

I hate it when they do that to me. I just was thankful that Phil was not home at the time as I would have lost control of the room at that point. There are some days even though he should Phil can not control his laughter from the innocent yet absurd questions the kids ask.

TTFN~

Hair......

For those of you wondering I only have about two years left before I can make my last hair donation. I was talking to Katie the other day and asked her if she as going to let her hair get long again and she said, "No, Mommy I want to cut it short again. "

I made her a deal that we had to wait until it got warm again and I would let her cut it again. Which means we will have to go hairstyle shopping on line again so she can make her decision. I on the other hand have only reached about 10 months in my 36 month journey to getting my hair long enough to donate.

Attached is a photo from the day I donated it last April and a picture of Katie and I from Valentine's Day.






TTFN~

There are no words.......

As I begin this post I just have to shake my head and tell you I couldn't possibly have made this story up, it really happened.

To set the scene it is about 5:30pm I am minutes from putting food on plates for dinner, Phil is on his way home, and the kids are watching an episode of Super Why I DVR'd for them. About twice a week I DVR a few shows so that when Phil is working late I have about thirty minutes to prepare dinner.

All the sudden I hear Katie tell Jack to pause it she needed to go potty. I need to also mention that Maddie has suddenly become fascinated with the bathroom. So if you are in the bathroom she wants to be in there with you regardless of the smell. I heard the girls in there talking while Katie was going but nothing really caught my attention.......that is until I heard..........."Mommy you need to come in here RIGHT NOW."

My hands are full of food as I am cutting up Maddie's dinner. I asked her what is going on because my hands were a mess. She tells me while she was pooping Maddie dropped one of her ABC's in the toilet.

GROSS!

At that very moment, Phil walks in the door. Without skipping a beat I grab a pair of tongs and hand them to Phil and say, "Don't ask......Please just go into the bathroom with these."

There was this long dramatic pauses as Phil looks at me as if I suddenly had grown antenna's or an extra head. But like the good husband he does as he was asked, and then drops the letter G into the trash shaking his head.

I was hoping it was one of her plastic ABC's that I could disinfect through the dishwasher. However no such luck it was the wooden set. As I walked over to Phil to check which set it came from, he already knew what I was thinking. He just looked at me and said, "No it is going in the trash."

I just gave him the 'Yes Dear' look and walked away. I was really bummed though as the wooden ABC's is one of Maddie's favorite toys. She plays with it everyday. She loves to make getting the letters in the right places a game and for an 18 month old this is a great fine motor skill practice for her.

My only consolation is that I still have her Toys R Us gift card she received at Christmas. So maybe we can replace the ABC puzzle next weekend.

This happened earlier in the week put I hadn't had a chance to post about it yet.

Have a Great Week!!!!!

Fun afternoon

Back on Valentine's Day, we had a wonderful opportunity to go to a ceramics place called Dish it Out. Katie, Jack and Maddie had the opportunity to paint these ceramic heart boxes. They will then be fired and glazed for the kids to keep. We had a great afternoon. I have never seen three little kids so serious about painting.

TTFN~

stunned into speechlessness

Not sure if speechlessness is really a word but there really is no other word for it........

At Christmas time I always am the one who sits and opens all the adult-proof child toys. You know the ones. There are heated plastic that look as if they have been crimped around the corners. The best and easiest way to open them is via grenade. I believe this past Christmas I must have spent and hour sitting on the couch untwisting, cutting, ripping and tearing. But cutting those plastic, crimped packages just made my skin crawl not to mention killed my fingers and hands.

So every once and a while I will save a Christmas present they received and not open it. If they received two new games I will open one and save the other. Later in the year it is like receiving it all over again. The kids get excited about opening it and it is a new challenge for them that just maybe I get 15 minutes of peace until they master it.

So, Jack......yes leave it to Jack....finds a gift he received at some previous birthday or Christmas that Phil and I bought him. It is one of the V-Tech games that has a kids remote with big buttons that light up and easy to hold. At this point I have no idea that he has found it. Do you want to know how I found out he has found this game and wants it open........Really you must just try and guess how I found out he wanted this new discovery opened......Don't want to guess......not like it matters you would never get it anyway..........

As I am in the bathroom, I just walked in the shower and closed the curtain.....He bust open the bathroom door whips open the curtain and says,"Mommy can you open this for me?"

It takes me about 15 seconds to collect myself and pull the curtain back over me and my birthday suit......I wanted to say Yeah Honey let me just pull my McGiver knife out I keep it attached to the wall of the shower....doesn't every mom. But he wouldn't get that. So I politely told him he needed to ask his dad downstairs to open it for him. Stunningly enough he did what I asked and was playing the game once I emerged from the shower in my non-Birthday suit attire.

When I told Phil what he did to me first, Phil just laughed....what could he do.

Just about the time I think life will be quiet and boring for a while Jack pulls out a zinger.

Hopefully, you were able to read the rest of this through the laughter.

TTFN~

Valentine's Day

Even though we were married in August of 1999 Valentine's is an anniversary of sorts. Twelve years ago today I said yes to becoming Mrs. Philip Addler. Never in my wildest dreams did I think this adventure would lead me to the destination I am at today. Although the journey is far from over, I believe that the ride has been well worth the bumps in the road.

Today, we are going to meet up with most of the other cardiac families in the area to have a fun afternoon doing a Valentine project with the kids. They will get to paint and make a mess and laugh and giggle and smile. These events were rare some days in out cardiac journey. However, today laughing, giggling and smiling are every day, multiple times a day events that I don't want to miss even one of them.

Just for fun Phil ran up to get yummy doughnuts to splurge on. Madelynn alone ate 5 doughnut holes. However, just as we were finishing pumping ourselves full of a sugar rush, Phil got a call. A voice that makes me cringe every time I hear it on the radio. Some one has a leak and Phil has to go stop it. A service call.

So as he leaves he gives me and the kids a kiss, wishes us a Happy Valentines Day and says leave me the directions to the event......If I can I will meet you there. I could be angry about the whole thing...................BUT.....................I knew this could happen when he agreed to be on call, he is making extra money since it is on the weekend........and what if I was the family that has the water all over in their house. I would want someone there right away regardless of the day.

So I will hope that he will be able to fix the leak quickly and be home before we have to leave for the event. But if he doesn't then I will make the journey myself with the three kids and pray for patience and grace, and lots of smiles that we will be able to enjoy ourselves anyway.

We hope everyone has a day filled with whatever it is that makes your heart flutter so that you too can enjoy Valentine's Day.

TTFN~

P.S. Go Newman and Lil' E the 500 ought to be fun too.............

Things I have learned about Jack this week.......

When you spike Jack's hair and it looks like this he needs a hair cut...............

Never, Ever let him color with markers too long.............

He really does love his little sister..............

Just had to share a few smiles........

TTFN~

change in plan

Ok so I was supposed to make a 1.5 mile trek in the morning for charity, in an event called the Cupid's Cup. However, old man winter decided that he needed to blow into town for one last yehaw.

So it has been snowing in NC for about 4 hours and it is supposed to continue through the morning hours. Mind you spring comes early in the the south and I was expecting to see buds on the trees in about three weeks. What a crazy winter it has been for everyone. But for those of you that have been to our home in the south it is not supposed to look like this.

The Grill.........



The back deck table and chairs...........



The plum tree in the front yard.........

The back yard..........

And yes I realize that so many of you have had so much more snow that we have this year but this is crazy for the south so I thought I would share. Hope everyone is staying warm.

TTFN~

Crazy Morning

Wednesday morning was like some kind of dream................

I took Jack and Maddie to my neighbors and headed back across the street with Katie to start up the car. Katie and I went in to the house to grab our things and get in the car so I could take her to school. It was rather cold and frosty that morning and the driver's side slide door was sticking. Like the door was frozen. So I just let Katie get in my side and crawl to the back so she could get to school and I wouldn't be late for work.

Pulling out of the neighborhood the door alarm goes off stating that the drivers side back door is open. I had messed with it just enough to make the car think the door was open. So I make the 1/4 mile drive to the school let Katie out and throw my body against the back to to get it to close. It appears as though I had fixed the problem. I head down the road to the gas station and the alarm goes off again stating this time the driver's side front door is open.

At the next red light I open and shut my door and it appears as thought the alarm went off. The light turns green and I start off and the alarm goes off for the third time now for the passenger front door is supposedly open. I pull in to the next gas station fix the door, get gas, and try to start off again. Before I pull out of the gas station the alarm gos off for the fourth time, now for the passenger back door is open. I stop fix the door and pull out on to the highway.

Finally, no more alarms. I must also state that if the doors are not completely shut the remote clicker will not lock the car doors. I locked the doors the night before. I thought maybe someone tried to break in but there was change and an extra cell phone that were never touched. Phil's comment to the possible break in was that they opened the door and thought all these car seats means all these kids their broke and have nothing worth wanting. Not to mention a sheriff's deputy lives right next door and his patrol car was 20 feet away.

So about 2 miles up the road I am cruising at about 60 miles an hour and the driver's side window just drops down. Thankfully it didn't break but it scared the holy crap out of me. Good thing I peed before I left the house. I called Phil to tell him about the window and he thought I was lying and started laughing at me. He had no other response.

By the time I arrived at work, things were much more calm and I was ready for an incredibly boring day as my morning was excitement enough.

About 10am Phil calls me wants to make sure I made it to work and that the van didn't self destruct 10 seconds after I arrived at work.

TTFN~

Exciting News

After the doctor visit we had Friday I really had not expected much more good news for Madelynn. But today I received it.

I had to leave work early to meet with a therapist for Madelynn. I stopped Madelynn's year long physical therapy in December. After talking to the case working that is assisting in Madelynn's recovery, she suggested that Madelynn have an exit therapy session just to make sure she really was ready to stop physical therapy. I already knew the answer but it was a free review so I let them do their job.

As the session began, Madelynn was very shy. I had to sit on the floor to get her to interact with the therapist in the play therapy. All of the sudden, Madelynn took off. She started showing the therapist everything she new and more. She was doing so well in fact the therapist started started testing her on things well above her age group and she was succeeding.

To give you an example Madelynn is 18 months old as of last Friday. Today she tested in the 21, 22, 24 and 25 month old ranges for the tasks she could complete. The therapist was very impressed and concurred that she no longer needs physical therapy. She also said whatever it is we are going to continue because she is thriving on it. Many people look at her and comment how small she is for her age or just how tiny she is. Little do they know this tiny little package will give you a run for your money.

It is just really good to know that she really is on the road to recovery. I always get worried when I get good news that the other shoe is going to drop and we will take two steps backward for the one step forward. I am not sure I could handle another step backward. But it seems now that we are only looking forward. In Madelynn's case, she is running forward and you better be ready to keep up with her.

Thanks to everyone who prayed for her, helped us and continue to pray for her daily. She truly is thriving and we are completely thrilled.

TTFN~

Madelynn

I have told you about the comedy associated with the doctor visit for Madelynn but I never told you about the actual visit.

Once in the room I let the nurse know about Madelynn being in the Levine Children's Hospital ER two weeks prior. Because all of the specialists, Hospitals, Urgent cares and the pediatrician are all on the same Health Care system I just have to tell the necessary parties where we went and when and they can pull up all of the medical records and can see everything that has happened instead of me having to explain it. The nurse can print off and put a hard copy in her chart. It makes one part of my life very easy. All I have to do is make sure that the facility is on the right Health Care system. As anal as I am about Madelynn's care I already have them mapped out.

So we talk to the the doctor and the medications they gave her and how she responded. He was actually impressed. Because of Madelynn's age and the condition she suffered from the open heart surgery, the only way the doctor knows if she is recovering well and can withstand everyday life is for her to get sick and see how she withstands it. It sounds strange but think about it this way.

If you have ever had a chest x-ray you are told to take a deep breath and hold it. This way the get the lungs and diaphragm fully expanded and any previous x-rays can be compared apples for apples. Madelynn has had enough chest x-rays I am surprised she isn't her own night light. During her open heart surgery recovery a chest x-ray was required almost every night especially once she suffered the strep pneumonia, collapsed lung and partial paralysis in her diaphragm. These side effects from the heart surgery have been harder to overcome than the heart surgery itself.

All that to say you cannot tell and infant or toddler to take a deep breath and hold it. So they have to watch her breathing and see when she takes a deep breathe and try and snap the x-ray at this exact moment. Not an ideal situation. A better way to judge her recovery is to wait until she gets sick and see how she recovers and fights it off. With the croup she was diagnosed with at the end of January, the Doctor believes she is handling it very well. She is tolerating it so well in fact......that if she continues moving forward with no ill effects in 30 days she can DISCONTINUE her breathing treatments.

Ok....so what you say............This is absolutely THRILLING to Phil and I. What this means is that My beautiful 2 1/2 month old baby who underwent open heart surgery, suffered strep pneumonia, collapsed lung, paralysis in her diaphragm, spent 17 days in the CVICU, left the hospital on several medications will officially be medications free 17 months later. We will go back and see the doctor in a few months and we will have to monitor her closely for the next 60 days to make sure he body can tolerate the lack of the breathing treatment.

I almost fell on the floor when the doctor told me that we could stop the breathing treatments in 30 days. He just wants to make sure the the croup is gone and here body gets a good head start. By this time cold and flu season will be pretty much over down here. So it was an exciting day. I just need to be patient finish all of the breathing treatments to give her the best chance. Sometime around Phil's birthday in March Madelynn will be medication free. It will be a time to celebrate and a good birthday present for Daddy.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may mature and complete, not lacking anything.......Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him" James 1:2-4, 12

I believe Madelynn has received that crown of life and I hope that she treasures this gift for the rest of her life.

TTFN~

Comic Relief

I am not sure I will do any of these stories justice but I will do my best to explain what really happen as best I can.................

Things I have learned in life..........

If you are too busy, you are never too busy to stop and go to the bathroom contrary to popular belief. The other day I did the usual routine. Got up and 5:30am, showered, dressed, got Jack, Katie and Maddie dressed, went down stairs, got every one's coats on, walked Jack and Maddie to the neighbor's, drove Katie to school and made my jaunt to work. Please note I never went to the bathroom. At about 8:00am, I walked to the third floor where my office is and suddenly realized I had to go to the bathroom. As I unlocked my office I realized I could no longer wait. However, my office is the furthest distance to the restroom.

By the time I go to the bathroom I thought I was going to explode. I practically run to the restroom. I sit or should I say slammed my self on to the toilet seat only to discover the cleaning crew had been there last night and they left the seat up. Talk about a shock to the system and excruciating pain. I had slammed down so hard I bruised the back of my leg near my buttock. For the last week, ever time I sit to pee I am reminded of my stupidity for not looking because I the pain I feel in the muscle in my leg. I hit just the right way to bruise the muscle and make it very tender.

Not to be out done by my son.........I discovered that he comes by things in his life honestly. Remember to keep your eyes open all the time.

We, he, Maddie and I, were on our way to a Doctor appointment for Maddie. We were going to The Jeff Gordon Children's Hospital to see one of Maddie's specialist's. Jack has never made this trip with me before and with good reason, but it could not be avoided. Knowing how Jack would be with his 2 million questions wanting to know about everything and that fact that he has never been to this hospital or doctor before I knew it would be a challenge.

Never in a million years did I ever think I would laugh so hard. Everything about the hospital is unique even the parking garage. So we are travelling from the parking garage to the speciality offices on foot on the hospital grounds. Maddie is in the stroller, Jack is behaving hanging on to the stroller and walking right next to me. We get to the front entrance and Jack is truly amazed. There is a turn style type door that starts spinning via motion detector as we get up to the door. Jack thought that was soooooo cool.

As part of the design to the door there is a section of the turn style once you are in and walking with the door that has a little step up. Jack thought he could step up on it and ride it till the opening that lets us inside. Little did he know that the cleaning crew had done such and excellent job this little step up was enclosed in glass, no access to it. As he took a running start to step up it all happened so fast there was nothing I could do. It was like a cartoon. He bounced off the glass and went flying back. I would have paid money for the hospital security video. He is fine and sustained no really injury except his pride. The worse part about the whole thing is that I, his mother, could not stop laughing. I was almost in tears asking if he was ok.

When we left the appointment he never let go of the stroller until I opened the van door to get in and go home.

Last week provided a little comic relief in all of the other stressful chaos. I hope it provided a little giggle for everyone else too.

TTFN~