In Madelynn's almost two and a half years of life she has been examined, poked, prodded and just down right been invaded. She has handled it some days better than I ever thought she would. Whenever we go to the doctor for whatever reason she is not afraid of anything except when she sees a needle coming but who wouldn't.
For Christmas, Santa brought her a little medical kit and it has become her favorite present. The tools that the doctor uses to look in your eyes, ears, nose and throat even light up like the real ones. She just loves it.
Madelynn decided recently that Mommy needed a check up. It stated out by taking my 'hairbow' out and giving me a haircut with her new cool (pretend) medical scissors. Even though the scissors don't really cut, they can get stuck in your hair and it is REALLY painful to get out. After we confirmed Mommy didn't need to donate her hair earlier than expected we moved on to all the really cool tools that light up.
The one for examining your nose was crammed up my nose and turned on I think I could have been a stand in for Rudolf thank god I have 362 days to recover. Then she decided it was time to examine my eyes. All I have to say is it was ten times worse than the puffs of air for the glaucoma test. So here's the scene.....
Mommy I need to check your eyes
Ok
Mommy I need to take your glasses and I need to hold them.
Ok but can mommy hold them
No I do it.
The next thing I know she is coming at me with something red with a light at the end and I shut my eyes.
Mommy you have to open your eyes
Ok (It is kind of hard to open your eye when the tool is pushing in your eyeball and you suddenly feel the light on the tool go on.)
No, Mommy open your eye like this.
Suddenly I feel little fingers pulling my eye lid open and bright red light coming at me.
Maddie, Honey are we done yet??
Ok, Mommy time for a shot.
As long as it isn't in the eye we are good. At this point I pretend that the shot hurt and say, "ouch!"
Maddie looks at me and says, "Mommy that didn't hurt!"
True, compared to the bright red light being crammed in my eyeball I didn't feel a thing on that shot. Oh and did I mention during this examination I was folding and putting her clothes away. I can't tell you how much I really dislike laundry.
Happy Wednesday!
TTFN~
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Christmas Surprise......
There is so many pictures to share and stories to tell but the biggest news in the Addler household comes from Katie May.......
Christmas Day night right before bed she lost her first tooth. She was so excited she came running in to say, "Mommy my tooth fell out!!" Thanks to Grandma Bacho we were able to use the Tooth Fairy pillow case I used as a child. Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy all in 24 hours what is a mom to do.
TTFN~
Friday, December 17, 2010
Space Heaters
So for those of you that don't know I work for a local Church in Charlotte , in the finance department and love my job. I don't usually talk about my job very much but today was different.
The Church is incredibly generous to the community in so many ways, I sometimes have to step back in awe. Outside of the Tithing Committee meetings and decision on who to help, during the Christmas Season there is always extra to help that last minute request. Being in the finance department I only hear stories third and fourth hand about the families we help. I always get excited when we cut the checks for those families in need, especially when they don't expect it.
Today I had an incredible luxury to be the call someone has been waiting/praying for. Some families have been having a terrible time in Charlotte's coldest winter in 100 years. Another non profit was giving away space heaters but ran out of money and needed a donation to buy more heaters. Once the check was in my hand I called them to see if they wanted to pick up the check.
It went a little something like this.....Thank you for calling.....I introduced myself and where I was calling from, there was this sudden silent excitement on the phone. I said guess what I have..... She said what do you have..... I told the girl I had a check in the amount of......she was almost speechless. It wasn't that much but they needed it so badly. When I offered to let her come pick the check up she couldn't get 'where are you located again' out fast enough. I couldn't tell if it was just excitement or tears on the other end but the Church was an answer to their prayers.
I have never experienced being that person to make that call. It is the best part about my job, helping others. It has been a crazy week, I still have Christmas presents to buy, wrap, make and mail but today stopped me and reminded me what was really important.
As you rush around stressing to finish, try to keep in mind what Christmas is really about.
TTFN~
The Church is incredibly generous to the community in so many ways, I sometimes have to step back in awe. Outside of the Tithing Committee meetings and decision on who to help, during the Christmas Season there is always extra to help that last minute request. Being in the finance department I only hear stories third and fourth hand about the families we help. I always get excited when we cut the checks for those families in need, especially when they don't expect it.
Today I had an incredible luxury to be the call someone has been waiting/praying for. Some families have been having a terrible time in Charlotte's coldest winter in 100 years. Another non profit was giving away space heaters but ran out of money and needed a donation to buy more heaters. Once the check was in my hand I called them to see if they wanted to pick up the check.
It went a little something like this.....Thank you for calling.....I introduced myself and where I was calling from, there was this sudden silent excitement on the phone. I said guess what I have..... She said what do you have..... I told the girl I had a check in the amount of......she was almost speechless. It wasn't that much but they needed it so badly. When I offered to let her come pick the check up she couldn't get 'where are you located again' out fast enough. I couldn't tell if it was just excitement or tears on the other end but the Church was an answer to their prayers.
I have never experienced being that person to make that call. It is the best part about my job, helping others. It has been a crazy week, I still have Christmas presents to buy, wrap, make and mail but today stopped me and reminded me what was really important.
As you rush around stressing to finish, try to keep in mind what Christmas is really about.
TTFN~
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Comedic relief from the dentist.
The last two weeks have been an emotional roller coaster that I am choosing to disembark from immediately.
We came home from our 11 glorious days in Florida to below freezing temperatures. It took my body a few days to adjust. I think I wore four to five layers of clothes. I simply could not get warm. There was an announcement yesterday that this is the coldest December in 100 years in our area. Pleas note: I HATE, LOATHE, DESPISE the cold. Not to mention it totally ruins the morale of the household.
We celebrated Kaitlynn's birthday and the life of a remarkable young man, Jacob, who was called home to Jesus after complications of a successful heart surgery (We will miss you Jacob).
Although Kaitlynn and Jackson are succeeding in school, socially they are having difficulty. This time instead of taking their toys away I started to ground them from TV. Amazingly enough their bedrooms are INCREDIBLY clean (LOL!!!).
Speaking of incredibly clean....Have you ever taken a 7, 5 and 2 year old to the dentist!? Not really sure what I was thinking when I made the appointment but the results were most excellent. Kaitlynn is doing very well, no cavities, teeth look great and she has two 'wiggly' teeth as she calls it. It looks as though she might come to the Christmas dinner table with a gap in her smile. She is so excited.
Jack on the other hand is cutting his 6 year molars and is completely miserable. However, his check up was also good with no cavities. He does have an issue with his bite but the Doctor believes it will correct itself when his permanent teeth come in. Madelynn stole the show at the dentist not that it should shock anyone. She did GREAT with the teeth cleaning loves her new princess toothbrush and also had no cavities.
But then we come back around to the 'wiggly' teeth. Kaitlynn and I were talking about them and the one tooth is very loose and the tooth fairy came up. So I explained the tooth fairy, the very special pillow case that was only allowed on your pillow if you had a tooth to deposit in the special pocket. How the pillow would jingle in the morning because it had money in it in exchange for the baby tooth. Thank God my mom found it in the back of the closet.
I thought the kids eyes were going to bug out of their heads. You could see the wheels turning in their little minds. Suddenly I saw something that really worried me. Jackson and Madelynn had their fingers in their mouth checking for loose teeth. Jackson told me he had two 'wiggly' teeth too. I explained that this was not what the dentist said. These two teeth are brand new and you will keep them forever, THEY ARE NOT LEAVING YOUR MOUTH.
The best conversation came from Madelynn when she tried to tell me she also had 'wiggly' teeth. I looked in her mouth and told her those teeth just got there how about we let them stay there for a while before we take them out. Very disappointed she told me 'oh ok mommy'.
My new fear is that one day I will walk into one of there rooms only to find them trying to use Jack's tools to remove a tooth. I don't even want to think about how I would explain that to the dentist. I didn't realize I made the tooth fairy so exciting to want to walk around and yank your teeth out.
So after an emotional up and down two weeks, the laughter was great. Now if I can keep all the teeth in until they are supposed to come out life would be wonderful.
TTFN~
We came home from our 11 glorious days in Florida to below freezing temperatures. It took my body a few days to adjust. I think I wore four to five layers of clothes. I simply could not get warm. There was an announcement yesterday that this is the coldest December in 100 years in our area. Pleas note: I HATE, LOATHE, DESPISE the cold. Not to mention it totally ruins the morale of the household.
We celebrated Kaitlynn's birthday and the life of a remarkable young man, Jacob, who was called home to Jesus after complications of a successful heart surgery (We will miss you Jacob).
Although Kaitlynn and Jackson are succeeding in school, socially they are having difficulty. This time instead of taking their toys away I started to ground them from TV. Amazingly enough their bedrooms are INCREDIBLY clean (LOL!!!).
Speaking of incredibly clean....Have you ever taken a 7, 5 and 2 year old to the dentist!? Not really sure what I was thinking when I made the appointment but the results were most excellent. Kaitlynn is doing very well, no cavities, teeth look great and she has two 'wiggly' teeth as she calls it. It looks as though she might come to the Christmas dinner table with a gap in her smile. She is so excited.
Jack on the other hand is cutting his 6 year molars and is completely miserable. However, his check up was also good with no cavities. He does have an issue with his bite but the Doctor believes it will correct itself when his permanent teeth come in. Madelynn stole the show at the dentist not that it should shock anyone. She did GREAT with the teeth cleaning loves her new princess toothbrush and also had no cavities.
But then we come back around to the 'wiggly' teeth. Kaitlynn and I were talking about them and the one tooth is very loose and the tooth fairy came up. So I explained the tooth fairy, the very special pillow case that was only allowed on your pillow if you had a tooth to deposit in the special pocket. How the pillow would jingle in the morning because it had money in it in exchange for the baby tooth. Thank God my mom found it in the back of the closet.
I thought the kids eyes were going to bug out of their heads. You could see the wheels turning in their little minds. Suddenly I saw something that really worried me. Jackson and Madelynn had their fingers in their mouth checking for loose teeth. Jackson told me he had two 'wiggly' teeth too. I explained that this was not what the dentist said. These two teeth are brand new and you will keep them forever, THEY ARE NOT LEAVING YOUR MOUTH.
The best conversation came from Madelynn when she tried to tell me she also had 'wiggly' teeth. I looked in her mouth and told her those teeth just got there how about we let them stay there for a while before we take them out. Very disappointed she told me 'oh ok mommy'.
My new fear is that one day I will walk into one of there rooms only to find them trying to use Jack's tools to remove a tooth. I don't even want to think about how I would explain that to the dentist. I didn't realize I made the tooth fairy so exciting to want to walk around and yank your teeth out.
So after an emotional up and down two weeks, the laughter was great. Now if I can keep all the teeth in until they are supposed to come out life would be wonderful.
TTFN~
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Art Work....
Stunned into speechlessness is the best way I can describe it.
It doesn't happen very often but today I truly had no words for it. Everyday after school we sit down one child at a time and we go through homework folders, agendas, discuss the school day and get started on homework.
However, today I received a letter from Kaitlynn's art teacher that I was completely unprepared for. The letter asked me to fill out an attached form because Kaitlynn's Art work had been chosen to be displayed in the county court house for a YEAR! Kaitlynn said that only one other child had art work chosen.
I didn't even know what to say to her. I wanted to see the art work!!! I really don't think Kaitlynn understood what was happening. So probably sometime in January I will take her down the the court house and walk the halls to find her peice displayed.
The things you can accomplish by 7 years old never ceases to amaze me.
Congratulations Kaitlynn!!!
I am very proud of you!!!
TTFN~
It doesn't happen very often but today I truly had no words for it. Everyday after school we sit down one child at a time and we go through homework folders, agendas, discuss the school day and get started on homework.
However, today I received a letter from Kaitlynn's art teacher that I was completely unprepared for. The letter asked me to fill out an attached form because Kaitlynn's Art work had been chosen to be displayed in the county court house for a YEAR! Kaitlynn said that only one other child had art work chosen.
I didn't even know what to say to her. I wanted to see the art work!!! I really don't think Kaitlynn understood what was happening. So probably sometime in January I will take her down the the court house and walk the halls to find her peice displayed.
The things you can accomplish by 7 years old never ceases to amaze me.
Congratulations Kaitlynn!!!
I am very proud of you!!!
TTFN~
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Pray for Jacob's Family
After Madelynn's surgery two years ago, throughout her recovery we would find gifts in her room. Different non-profit groups left gifts as she recovered. One of these groups was Levine Cardiac Kids (LCK).
One night while Madelynn was recovering in the hospital Phil and I went down to one of their meetings. What a stellar group of people! I came to know an Amazing LCK mom, Kim. Her son, Jacob, had a few defects with his heart; one was the same defect as Madelynn.
It always gave me some sense of relief when I would see Jacob because he was a teen-ager. One of the oldest cardiac kids in the group, he gave me hope. Just looking at his infectious smile and watching his teenager antics, he showed us life would find normal again after Madelynn recovered.
Over the last two years as I have attended meetings and events I have talked to Kim some about Jacob and his needing surgery this year. The surgery took place Wednesday December 1st. I didn't want to pry so I would check his caring bridge page or face book pages of other LCK moms for an update. Thursday a one sentence post took my breath away. "Jacob needs a miracle. Pray Hard."
I just started to pray harder.
This weekend was Kaitlynn's Birthday and Party so I was trying to stay focused on that. But Saturday Morning something struck me as I got dressed, I put on my Camp Luck shirt said a little prayer and started my day. Finally, late Saturday Night I checked a few web pages to find an update.
Jacob passed away from complications of that surgery.
This was a wonderful young man who will be missed by so many. He was a true leader among the cardiac kids in so many ways. It has been difficult to explain to the younger children that he is gone. However, it was nice to hear they were able to donate his liver and kidneys to save other lives.
Please just pray for Jacob's family as they mourn his loss and celebrate his life it is going to be a long road.
TTFN~
One night while Madelynn was recovering in the hospital Phil and I went down to one of their meetings. What a stellar group of people! I came to know an Amazing LCK mom, Kim. Her son, Jacob, had a few defects with his heart; one was the same defect as Madelynn.
It always gave me some sense of relief when I would see Jacob because he was a teen-ager. One of the oldest cardiac kids in the group, he gave me hope. Just looking at his infectious smile and watching his teenager antics, he showed us life would find normal again after Madelynn recovered.
Over the last two years as I have attended meetings and events I have talked to Kim some about Jacob and his needing surgery this year. The surgery took place Wednesday December 1st. I didn't want to pry so I would check his caring bridge page or face book pages of other LCK moms for an update. Thursday a one sentence post took my breath away. "Jacob needs a miracle. Pray Hard."
I just started to pray harder.
This weekend was Kaitlynn's Birthday and Party so I was trying to stay focused on that. But Saturday Morning something struck me as I got dressed, I put on my Camp Luck shirt said a little prayer and started my day. Finally, late Saturday Night I checked a few web pages to find an update.
Jacob passed away from complications of that surgery.
This was a wonderful young man who will be missed by so many. He was a true leader among the cardiac kids in so many ways. It has been difficult to explain to the younger children that he is gone. However, it was nice to hear they were able to donate his liver and kidneys to save other lives.
Please just pray for Jacob's family as they mourn his loss and celebrate his life it is going to be a long road.
TTFN~
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Seven Years...
To think seven years ago today....I became a mom.
Happy 7th Birthday Kaitlynn!!!!
Today as I looked at the the new clothes you received I was in shock and awe. Just completely speechless at how long the pants were...are you really that tall??? I don't wonder where the time has gone because I was there when it all happened...when you took your first steps, said your first word, started pre-school, walked into kindergarten, swam 50 meters or suddenly evolved into some type of math wiz.
However, like any good parent I can't do it all, I did miss a few things (more than a few) when Madelynn was recovering. The amount of guilt a parent can feel some days is astounding. I have spent too many hours/days/weeks trying to make up for it. Until suddenly one day I just decided to accept what I can't change. I also decided to celebrate today and make every day count. Had it not been for you I am not sure when or if I would have ever discovered that for myself.
Thank you for helping me enjoy everyday. You are a great big sister and I could not be prouder of you. Hope you have a great!!!
Love, Momma
TTFN~
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)