Kindergarten.... ARE YOU READY?

Tomorrow the triplets start kindergarten. The famous question is, “Are you ready?”.   Well, I am. I guess every major transition in the kids’ life will give us these feelings, but this one especially. I think when they start middle school, high school, college, and then off to their career, and starting a family… there will always be worry. Always anxiety. Don’t get me wrong. There is a bit. But, we are ready. We are prepared.

If you have read any of this blog, you will know we’ve been through a lot. Could our journey have been worse? ABSOLUTELY. But I cannot understate where we have come from.

And so, let me tell you about our Kindergarten readiness. It starts all the way back going through infertility treatments, and our first ultrasound. 3 heartbeats. OH LORD, I thought to myself. I just want them to be healthy. Most of all, I just want them to live to their fullest potential, and for them to be healthy. Deep inside I knew we were in for a challenge. I can’t tell you how. But I knew.

Fastforward to 30 weeks pregnant. On the dot. We hit the delivery room. Lilly had absent end diastolic flow, I was in full blown pre-eclampsia, and my organs were saying “enough is enough”. The epidural and block were both unsuccessful, so under anesthesia I went. I woke to a whirlwind of emotions. Not only because I had anesthesia, but as I rolled into the NICU in my bed to see our babies they were far smaller than I could have imagined. Only Lilly was not on the vent. Little did I know at that time Grey had to be recessitated in the delivery room. And so it began. Our NICU journey.

The story is similar to many premature infants. Ups and downs with Lilly and Owen. Owen didn’t like to breathe through his reflux, Lilly had a firm belly for weeks because she was not a regular pooper. All had murmurs. Grey, he had other issues. He waxed and waned on the side of a  40 story tall building many nights. When I say that tongue and cheek… Know those were terrible days. Days where you can’t catch your breath from crying, you can’t even explain to your family what is going on because it was  too painful. You think that the next corner he turns has to be better. When it’s not, you feel like you could lean over and puke in the trash can. Set back after setback in the NICU, surgery after surgery the adventure continued. I don’t know how it feels to actually lose a child, but that is the only thing I think could feel worse.

There was one particular conversation that I had with Becca, (one of Grey’s nurses). A conversation that I didn’t know if I wanted to have, but knew I need to set my expectations. After he had his ostomy take-down, and his intestines put back together in September he was very, very ill. His liver was failing, his kidneys were not happy. He was not coming off the ventilator, and really… wasn’t even oxygenating well at all.  He had a wound infection, and a wound vac. My first goal of getting Grey home before Halloween was not going to happen. As a nurse, I know that talking about long term goals with an ICU nurse is really not realistic when survival of each minute and hour is most critical at that moment. But we had a very real conversation. I made a goal of Grey coming home by Thanksgiving that year. He achieved this! But also, I wanted Grey to be caught up developmentally by kindergarten. The first goal, was a short term goal. The Kindergarten goal… I thought of it as a long term goal, but many would say, that was a stretch goal.

Well, we did it. HE did it. Are we ready? YES! We have been working since September of 2010 to get to this place. We did physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, developmental therapy, on and off since he came home from the hospital in November 2010. He came home from the NICU taking NOTHING by mouth. 100% tube fed. He worked. He worked his little self as hard as he could to get to where he is. He was in near liver failure when he was released from his NICU stay. He has recovered. He had terrible strabismus (crossing of eyes) when he came home. He had 2 surgeries to correct this. At almost 6 months old when he came home, he could only break gravity to look at his hands. He worked for every single developmental milestone he hit; including some of the basics of life like eating.

Kindergarten, so are we ready. HELL YES. We are ready. These kids have fought some odds. They have overcome. Am I sad? I’m not. Am I nervous? I am a bit. But I know we have done all that we could have, to prepare all 3 of these kiddos to be where they are. Most of all; I am proud. I am proud of him. I am proud of Lilly and Owen. I am proud of Todd, who is usually my voice of reason, the rock that keeps the optimism flowing in this house. I am gracious to all that have helped us to get where we are. From all the doctors and nurses at St. Vincent, to all of our first step providers, Feeding Friends in Fishers, and our friends, and our FAMILY. I don’t say it enough. Our family has largely been a key to our success. Their help, their encouragement, their faith has been splendid. I am thankful; thankful for every one of my bosses for having patience with me through the rough times. I am thankful for Todd’s bosses throughout the years that never batted an eye when he was absent, or attended appointments with us. We pray the best is yet to come.

Tomorrow is a celebration of the next milestone. Cheers to the next step in our lives!

Complete blog fail! Welcome 2016!

Yeah... complete blog fail.
Do you know how many times I've thought about blogging... and just didn't?

Either way. Lots has changed.
We have (3) 5 year olds. YES 5 years old! Seriously. 5. They are doing so well. We have definitely gone through some ups and downs the past almost 2 years.
May of 2014, we moved into the home we built. That was a huge change for the kids since they had always remembered being in the home they were in. It was a challenge to get them in their own rooms again, and used to it. They started a new preschool. And... if you can believe it next year they will go to Kindergarten. Crazy...

2014 also we lost our husky Jasmine. She also died from liver cancer at 15 just like Hendrix just a few months before that. I have to do a blog post about her. She was one of those dogs you don't forget. Although I don't miss her hair, and her shenanigans, I miss having a dog around the house... most of the time around dinner time, and there are scraps on the floor I must now sweep up.

2015- We went to Disney. We had such a great time. We took my parents and in-laws. This was kind of as a thank you for all the hard work and dedication for what they've done for us. My sister now has a child, my brother now has a child. Perhaps I shouldn't go this long anymore before blogging.

Todd got a promotion somewhere in there... I got a promotion in October. wow... truly shouldn't wait this long to blog.
I am having a hard time even organizing my thoughts.
Grey got glasses. We've been.... SSHHHHHHH "knock on wood" healthy.
Grey started growth hormone injections October of 2014. He went from the less than 3rd% to now the 25%!!! Thriving children we have.
I'm posting this while Todd is at the grocery. We are bracing for.... ready.... an inch of snow, but he said the grocery store was crazy and he wanted to get it done before it's absolutely ridiculous tomorrow. I offered to go to get out of the house, he told me he wanted. I'm guessing he wanted out for a while too. Nobody REALLY wants to go to the grocery before our one inch of snowmagedden. I really will post some more pics, and also a post about Jasmine...promise!

Ode to my Buddy Love

Well, as 2014 does bring excitement for a new home, and new jobs in the Maurer house, it also brought sadness.

Hendrix, our (likely) 13 year old male husky was not acting right for a week or so. I had to be downtown for a meeting for a few hours, and he urinated on the couch, which was not him at all. He also wasn't laying in his normal places for a very long time. He acted restless. I sat on the floor with him late one night, and could tell that his abdomen was larger than I ever thought it had been before. It's so hard to tell with so much fur.

So, the next day 1/16/14, we went to the vet, and indeed, the vet said she felt like his abdomen was very large, and took labs and xrays. Xrays showed what looked like a very large liver, and some organs pushed out of place. His labs came back that night, and his liver numbers were in the 6000's. Normal high is 120's. He went for an abdominal ultrasound in the morning, and it showed a liver mass that incorporated about 80% of his liver mass, about 5 inches x 5 inches. I already knew this in my heart.

The story of Hendrix is one of rags to riches if you will. Hendrix came to us about 10 years ago, after we had to put our cat to sleep. Jasmine had started to mourn the cat, they so enjoyed tourchering each other! (The kitty is a whole other story) I was working at IU Med Center at the time in the Surgical ICU, and going to school to get my NP. I knew we didn't want a puppy. I contacted Northern Lights Sled Dog Rescue where I saw his picture. His story was sad. He was 2 years old. He had been a court case in his short life, and even found his way to the shelter 3 times. The third, he found rescue. He was was a witnessed beating with a 2x4 by his owner, and awarded back to his owner, and would show up at the shelter when he wanted food and drink. He came to us as a foster, as he was very sick. I knew we wouldn't be able to give him up, and it was always my intent to keep him.  He had a chronic cough, that on xrays, showed almost like a doggy COPD. This was probably because he had pneumonia or bronchitis that was untreated for a long time. He had a redish/purple large spot on his coat, looked like he rubbed up against wet paint, right on the scruf of his neck, and he had terrible worms. We dewormed him, and put him on prednisone for his cough. He managed to get out of 2 cages. We finally had to PADLOCK his cages. He was not easy the first few months. All of the prednisone made him eat and drink a lot, gave him diarrhea, and the worms.. oy... Todd was NOT set on keeping him. lol. Thankfullly, my mother in law stayed with us for almost a week at that time, because Muncie had a large ice storm, and they had no power. It was a life saver! She also talked to Todd, and asked him to give Hendrix another chance when he was healthy.

That was all she wrote with Hendrix. He was a good dog. He got better. Wasn't really ever sick. Jasmine would pick a fight with him now and then, and he would always win. Todd called him our Junkyard Dog. He was calm, and laid back, until you messed with him. He would finish it.

He loved to lay on my feet and work with me. He would come running across the yard when I would tell him time for work, or we had a meeting. He was on a eating and drinking schedule. 5pm SHARP he wanted his food. I used to think it was because he would know Oprah's music was over, but, NO, that dog, just had an internal clock that was very accurate. He would WOOOO, and WOOOOO until you got him what he wanted. I think that was a testament to deprivation early on. That, and his fear of long, skinny things like brooms, shovels, etc, were the only issues this dog had. We never really had to scold him. He just was a good dog. (As long as he was fed, and watered... lol) He loved the snow, he loved to run. he loved to have his neck rubbed, and he loved to lay under things, desks, tables... anything.

He was rather annoyed by the kids... I think they were too unpredictable for him, but had come around in the past few months. He still woo'd at them a lot. :)

Fast forward to Sunday night 1/19/14... I was laying in Owen's bed... (If you don't know why, read the last post). I noticed he couldn't get comfortable. He got in the bed, on the floor, in the hall, down the stairs, back up. I noticed when he laid down, he moaned. I took a video of his breathing, and counted it... consistently 70x a minute.. which is more than double normal. I gave him a pain pill that I had here, and after 30 minutes, he settled down. He slept, in one place. I knew... he was in pain.

I called the vet in the morning (1/20/14)... and I knew we either needed to do pain meds, or we needed to say good bye. After realizing that he hasn't done many things for a while, like, he used to lay like a frog, with his legs all sprawled out, he used to stretch and woooo each morning, he used to lay at the end of the bed, and not move, nightly... I knew we had a decision to make. We could have given him pain meds, but there was a risk of the tumors bursting, and him hemmoraging to death, or being in extreme pain, or.... with my work, and Todd's work being so busy lately, maybe we would miss it, and not be home. I knew we owed him dignity, we owed him the love that we gave him when we picked him up that first day.

I read in a blog somewhere that dogs don't fear the afterlife, they don't fear heaven or hell, they don't fear death.... they fear pain. Pain was indeed, what he was in. And, I owed him more respect, and dignity than that. I know, in my heart that we did the right thing. He died eating a mouthful of homemade banana bread... and I know that is the way he'd have loved to go. But, I will miss that dog. I will miss that big man, and I already do. I don't know how many times I accidentally felt for him under my desk last week.... but I know, I will see him again.

I cannot re-read this tonight... so they typos will have to exist for now.

  

Hello 2014

2014 has come so fast.

We had a great Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

I was actually sick for Thanksgiving, and Todd tore his bicep tendon right before Christmas, and had surgery on the Dec. 22nd, so, I guess it was eventful for both. After blisters from a surgery prep allergy, and hives from the treatment of the surgery prep allergy... Todd is just now getting back to normal after his bicep tendon rupture. Todd is not usually the one sick, so when he is, it's not easy on this household!

The kids had a good Christmas. We tried to not go overboard since we are moving early May-ish. They got a lot of Lego's, and the really enjoyed some fake snowballs that we got from their great-aunt. Another favorite is some battery operated bugs that they like to build Lego houses for. They are quite creative.

Grey is doing well. We are still watching his ears, here and there, but his latest set of labs, show a lagging immune-system, but it's on the low end of normal. He seems to be catching up to where he needs to be. Our battles with Grey are 1. getting potty-trained, 2. getting rid of his pacifier. In that order. First of all, I have never seen a child so lack-luster on getting potty-trained. He just DOES NOT care. I thought that he would be persuaded by peer pressure. We will NOT have to worry about Grey and peer pressure in the future, because, he does NOT care. He is in his own little world, and he doesn't care what you think. Quite evident. I started today rewarding him for staying dry in his big boys, which I did not have to do for Lilly and Owen, and he did quite well, until he locked himself in his bedroom, and panicked until I could get a screwdriver to unlock his door. We will keep working. He has lost his "diegos" which are the Pamper pull-ups, he thinks they are cool. He is now getting generic pullups. I hope they are even uncomfortable. He can have his Diegos at night. The pacifier, will not go with us to the new home. We have tried to prep him for this, but... we may just have to go cold turkey. I've seen him in the middle of the night when I've gone to cover him up sucking his thumb when he doesn't have his paci, and that is not something I want to start either. Grey has to be the easiest to entertain of the 3. He often giggles at the TV, and looks at the other 2, like,"WHAT, that was funny?" He has the best little personality, so silly, and such a creature of habit. He continues to be our best sleeper. Thankfully! He still says his favorite color is orange, and he loves playing Lego's, as well as his hot wheels cars. He also likes to draw and color. He will eat nearly anything.

Owen continues to be quite the daddy's boy. He loves his daddy! He does very well in school. He will recite the Pledge of Allegiance, prayers, he answers the TV with everything... and He told Todd the other day that "God will forgive all of your sins." Priceless. He remains a big boy. In solid 5T. 49lbs, and I have seen how tall he is lately. Size 13 shoe. He has the biggest heart, but can be the biggest bully. He continues to say that his favorite color is red. He likes Lego's, and cars as well. He still loves his "bb's" which are his 2 blue blankets that he sleeps with nightly. And, he really prefers to sleep in our bed with Todd. He has no issues telling me either, "Mom, please move over so I have room, you can go sleep in my room...". Because we've been tired, we've just done what works. We regret that. He loves to run, and hide. I guess they all do, but especially him. He loves to play hide and seek. He also, likes to pretend he's a kitty. There is frequent meowing around here. He happens to probably be the pickiest eater. He prefers chicken nugs, and hot dogs. He still LOVES milk!

Lilly is also doing well. She had her tubes placed in November I believe. No infections since then. (Knock on wood)She still likes pink, loves to color, play with Lego's, and will join in on the cars with the boys every now and then. She likes playing with her dolls. They all like pretending to play house, and be different characters. She is still a momma's girl, and loves to sing. Currently, Katy Perry's song "Roar" is her favorite, she demands it when she hears something even similar. She, like the boys, like watching her Disney Junior shows, and some on Nick Jr. as well. She makes up songs all the time, and for whatever reason, she calls me "Sumee" , like (SUM and a long E sound) Weirdest thing. But she constantly calls me Sumee. She also has been a picky eater. Not as bad as Owen though.

Our house hole was dug right before the new year... and well, that is where we still are. It has been so cold, and snowy (Because we are building a house)... that they haven't been able to do anything. Which is fine. Our house is not on the market yet. We really are in no hurry, other than the anxiety, and excitement of seeing what we have put together, come together.

Todd's job has been extremely busy, and my new job has also been very busy. I will be traveling a bit the next month or so. Of course, it's the coldest winter in 2 decades, and the 3rd snowiest in Indianapolis history (again, because we are building a house). We will just keep truckin along. We could not do what we do, without our family, that is for sure.

Changes on the horizon

OK, I know complete blogger fail. I'm sorry... It's been busy. I'll attempt to update on the madness.

So yes, these 3 kids turned 3. We celebrated at Chuck-e-Cheese, and they came home, ate cake... and opened their presents of plenty. They got their first bikes. Owen got a cars bike, Grey a Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and Lilly of course, a princess bike. She was the first to be determined enough to ride, and the boys to follow in the next few weeks. They love their bikes. They love their helmets. This quickly turned into having to duct-tape a "race track" on our driveway/garage so they wouldn't run each other over and/or cut each other off. It has kept them quite busy this summer.

They have also taken to many new cartoons. Dora is the latest and greatest ... and everything on Disney Jr. It is quite funny to watch them now watch the shows, and laugh appropriately, and answer the questions that the characters ask. They truly do learn from these shows, which is likely more than I can say about the smurfs. But I survived.

Grey is doing great. He continues to eat everything you put in front of him, and he is gaining weight just as he should. We had a scare of his liver numbers that took a large jump, but... there was no real reason for it, they are all now normal. He continues to surprise me how manipulative he is, and how smart he is. It's not uncommon for him to stand behind his gate in his room, and torment Lilly or Owen when they want a parent to come upstairs at bedtime. He will tell them (as he leans over his own gate) to go to bed, "You gonna be tired in the morning". He will mock them, and laugh when they get upset. He was upset one day when he didn't make it to the truck in time to sit in the 3rd row. He cried until he got to school, and told me his tummy hurt, he needed to go home, and come back to school sitting in the 3rd row. uh huh.... He's very silly, the clown of all of them. He loves to entertain, and his giggle is infectious. He's fought ear infections again this summer. Several fungal infections again, but... we've kept them under control. He loves to color, and draw. We've started swim lessons. He absolutely loves to swim. He loves to jump in, and he loves to take big gulps of the water constantly. He also likes to pay attention to the next class more than what he is supposed to be doing, but, nonetheless. He's Grey. I look at pictures of 3 years ago. July 23, and Sept 15. Days we almost lost Grey. I think of those days praying he had no lasting issues, or hypoxia. Prayed his liver would return to normal, and that we didn't take too much of his intestine out for him to live a normal life. Then I think of trying to get him interested in potty training, and giving up his pacifier... and that seems so silly compared to what the kid went through. I know this can't be an excuse for the rest of his life. But, I'm allowing him a few more months with his paci. A lot of people told me to cut holes in his paci, and he would lose interest. They are all slowly getting holes in them, since I've NEVER bought one of these, they are all from the NICU. They are OLD! He gave a paci to me tonight that had a hole in the nipple at the base, and he couldn't get a good suck on it. He said, "Mom, this one has a hole in it, you can throw it away, or give it to the babies. I don't want this one." (we always tell him the babies need his pacifier) So... he will not be allowed to make the move with his pacifier(more to come with the move)... but for now, that orange thing can hang out of his mouth when he goes to bed.

Lillian also is quite the character. The mother of the group, the caretaker, the fashionista. She has been potty trained for a few months now. She put panties on one day, and I can count on one hand how many accidents she has had since then. Usually if an accident occurs, it's an adult error. She likes to pick out her own clothes, pj's, panties, hair accessories, shoes, socks. shew.... I hope she isn't high maintenance when she grows up. She finally is letting me do things with her hair. Pig tails and barrets she enjoys. She loves riding her bike, playing with legos, and her baby dolls. She sings, and dances, and will tell you her favorite color is PINK. She has had a barrage of ear infections, therefore, she is getting tubes on Oct 21st. She also LOVES to swim. She kicks, and floats, and loves her little kitty swim cap. She is very imaginative. She often is going with her dad in a rocket ship. She told me when we were at the zoo this weekend, it looked like UMI-City, from UMIZoomies on Nick Jr. But, for that matter, they are all very imaginative, and play pretend all the time. All 3 of them. That is a trait they get from their father. I, have very little skills in that department, never really have. I like concrete things.

Owen is definitely the first born. By 1 minute, I know... but he is your stereotypical first born. He is the leader of the pack, the bossy one, the serious one, the emotional one, the one that gets his feelings hurt easiest, cautious, craves structure, and the list goes on. It's just him. He remains very large for his age. Last check he was 44lbs, and 43inches tall. He too is potty trained. My bathroom floor might disagree, and his aim is terrible, but he doesn't have accidents... let's put it that way. He picks things up very quickly, and knows many letters when he sees them. He too loves his bike, and likes to draw. He sings and dances less than Lilly and Grey, but... he loves to watch the TV and answer the character questions. He is a very active child. He is on the move constantly. They all would rather be outside, which will pose issues this winter... but, we will make it. He is a terrible sleeper. He refuses to sleep in his bed all night, and demands Todd to sleep with him. He is a daddy's boy thru and thru. That child loves his daddy. I'm second best the his daddy, that is for sure. He and Grey still beat each other up, run around, tackle each other, act like they have swords, act like they are kicking or karate chopping each other. Boys... thru and thru. One of our neighbors is a state trooper. He was in plain clothes and I told Owen that he was a police man. Owen looked at him, put his hands on both hips, then pointed to our neighbor and said, "you aren't a powice man... where yo gun if yo a powice man?"
"Is dat yo powice car?" Oh my GOSH, I could have crawled under a rock, seriously. He was telling this man, he was not a trooper, because he didn't have his gun, and he wasn't really sure if it was his car either. There was a lot going on that night, and I believe he laughed... but.... nonetheless, that is my Owen.

The kids are also attending preschool/daycare 3 days a week now(instead of 2). Todd's dad had a hip replacement, so this will be in place until he is all healed and ready to come back one day a week. Likely they will stay 3 days a week until the first of the year. This week was the first week. They were not happy, but they will get used to it. We miss them, and wish him a speedy recovery!

Well, on the job front. Both Todd and I have changed jobs. Todd is now a Director of Finance at Anthem. He got a promotion. I changed departments, and accepted a promotion in Anthem's Patient Centered Primary Care division. My title is Provider Clinical Liaison. This is only my 3rd week, so it's still very hard to tell what the role will include.. but, will be the nurse Liaison between the primary care doctors offices that have agreed to contract with Anthem to change the way they prioritize and follow their highest risk, and most chronic patients. It's Anthem's push to a more quality of care, versus of quantity of care in the pcp offices. I will cover the whole state of Indiana. There will be some travel, perhaps some overnight, but not often, and most will just be day trips. So, I will be at home still working most of the time. I needed to get out of the house. I welcome the change. Change is good. I will miss my old coworkers, but those that I want to stay in contact with, I will... just as I have with transplant.

We are building a house. yea.... building a house. We've been looking at houses on and off for a year or so. Just browsing. Our neighborhood houses have been selling quickly when priced appropriately. The house we are building is in a neighborhood just north of here, maybe 2 miles. It's not much bigger than what we have now, just structured differently for having 3 kids of the same age. Simple things that were important to us. 3 car garage that has the 3rd door. Our garage now, is a courthouse garage, and has a lot of area, but, it is awkwardly situated for what we need it for. We need a 5th bedroom in the basement, which we will have. I really wanted a bathroom for Lillian upstairs so, when she is a teenager, she won't have to share with the boys. We did not want the 2 story living room anymore. I think it's great esthetically, but... terrible for heating and cooling. I'm just waiting for a truth/dare session when one of my boys dives off of it, and it's wasted valuable space we need. The cons of moving... we actually love our house, and our neighbors. We have everything really the way we need it, and we've put work into this house. We wanted though to be in a house from kindergarten to graduation for the kids, and the house we are building will be it. It is amazing the amount of work we have put into starting this new house out. Picking out stuff... positioning lights, and windows, and blah, blah, blah. Todd and I have a great deal that we agree on though, so it wasn't a negative experience, you just hope that you like it when it goes in. I will blog on this as we go along.

 

Getting bigger quickly!

April went so fast, and May is following suit, and before you know it the Maurer triplets will be 3 years old.

Owen had his tonsils and adenoids out at the end of April. That was a rough 10-12 days... let me tell ya. Todd stayed with him the first night at the hospital, and he was home after that. It really was a game of staying ahead of the pain with medicine, but... Owen doesn't like to take any medicine, let alone medicine that does not taste good. I discovered Dr. Sear's cheek traction technique, that can defeat any veteran medicine spitter. However, he decided quickly that momma's way wasn't fun. He would take the medicine with some coaxing. Usually the coaxing lasted from 2-10 minutes (every 3 hours for 7 days). By the end of it, he was having a paradoxical drug reaction to his pain medicine, and up every hour or so at night. That got better once we stopped that. He ran a fever for about 5 days. He does not snore any more, but he is still not sleeping super. I think it's an age thing.... oy! Not only is he a veteran medicine spitter, he also is an Indiana First Steps graduate. He no longer needs speech therapy. That was short lived, but he is talking great. Very happy with his progress. Owen is definitely ready to be potty trained, but time has not allowed it. He has not pooped in his diaper for almost a week, he will say he needs to use the potty. Next weekend we are going to work with him, and hope that Lilly and Grey are influenced by peer pressure and cute big boy, or girl panties.

Grey is doing okay. He is having some severe reflux right now. I am not sure what has changed. I know that he has had a large hernia that the doctors have been aware of, and wondering if it is a hiatal hernia. He will have an upper endoscopy on Friday. I'm not worried about this, it's just odd that his reflux has popped back up. Medicine is not yet helping his reflux, or if it is, it's not doing the trick completely. He is growing, and gaining weight, but only time will tell what next months weight will be. He had a run of about 3 weeks that he vomited weekly. He had our terrible flu that was going around. More later on that. He was just evaluated for speech therapy through our local elementary school because once they turn 3, they are no longer eligible for First Steps. He did  not qualify either. I was so proud of him. He talked and talked in the evaluation. He has certainly come a long way! I think he is the most stubborn child there is around however. He still loves "lightning keen" and cars.

Lilly is just Lilly. She is a chatter box. She is the mother hen of the boys. She said to me the other day as I was getting her out of the truck for the playground, and Owen and Grey had already ran into the fence, and started climbing... she said, "Momma, look at my boys, they sure are silly." Indeed she thinks they are "HER boys". Sometimes she refers to them as her "bruders", but usually it's her "boys". She loves Sofia the first, the new Disney princess show. She is infatuated with princesses. Everything is princess, and I have no idea where that came from, must be complete innate.

 

 

Mother hen, allowing Owen to push, while she makes sure Grey has proper communication equipment in the stroller. Grey does like to be the baby..... no matter what he says!


We have transitioned to big kid beds. Lilly princesses, Grey Cars, and Owen Toy Story. What a journey that has been. Grey used to be the BEST of them all, and the last week, he has been absolutely terrible. I tried the supernanny technique with him on Wednesday night, and i put him back in bed 53 times in 22 minutes. My knees hurt so bad from getting up off the floor, I gave up. Do you realize how frustrating that is when you barely get sat back down, trying to ignore that child, and he is already out of bed again. More that 2x a minute!!! He won. That night he won. Todd managed to tame him on Saturday night, and he was just plain tired, so we will see what next week brings. Owen is ok... just ok. It depends on the night, and Lilly is about the same, but tends to be better than "Her boys". We did buy baby gates to put on their room doors, which they scaled in about 2 minutes after them being on. It definitely is better with them out of it, and I feel like we are moving towards a positive place... just not there yet. Their pics are above, but I'll post the final pictures of their room when I actually take them!

I had a garage sale on May 3-4, which was good, we got rid of a lot of stuff. BUT, I got the horrible virus going around. Later to find out, it was the norovirus, that is like the cruiseship viruses that they dock early for, and.... I know why. It was the worst flu-like symptoms that I have ever experienced I think. AND, my sister got married May 11... in which-case, I was in the wedding. Thank goodness I was able to make it through, and then resumed my symptoms after that weekend, and all the medicines like immodium that I knew I should not had taken, I stopped. It was ugly. Not only that, but all my kids slowly go it as well. Grey had it for the wedding, so they were unable to come... and true to form, Lilly and Owen followed. The bath pic of Grey was between puking episodes while I was at the wedding.The bad thing, Todd went away that next week for 3 nights and 4 days, and I was solo. Not only that, but my inlaws had to cancel a trip to FL because they got it as well. I was truly solo, with 3 puking kids, and pooping out of their diapers atleast 3x daily. All of them! Fevers, puking, and pooping, and I didn't feel the best either. BUT, I did it. I won't lie. I doubted myself. I really doubted myself. That's 3 kids in their new big beds, 3 kids sick.... yikes. But we did it. They were truly good. I kept them moving when they felt good. We visited playground after playground. We went to get a cookie one day that they were keeping food down, we went for walks daily several times, we played an overabundance of play-dough, and ... that is how we did it. I will also be truthful, I was happy to see Todd home. That was a relief!

Even though we've had sick kids, and had a lot going on.... lots of transitions... We've made the best of it.

Grey thinks his bed is great for "NASTICS".

Owen did not want his pic taken at Paradise Cafe, this one of our adventures while Todd was gone.

We got new mowers, and we enjoy making Daddy's mowing take about 5x longer each time!

This was them at the 500 parade. The boys were glued to Daddy, and Lilly couldn't let them all hold hands without her!!!!

 

 

Ode to my sister Tyann

I wanted to get this done before the wedding on May 11, but I did not get a chance. I thought I could incorporate this in my matron of honor speech... but, I really didn't think I could get through it.. and we'd both had enough stress... but here it goes.

So, I probably was ELATED when mom and dad said that I was going to have a little brother or sister, but nobody prepared a 6 yr old for that little sister to arrive on their birthday. So seriously, only child for 6 years and then SHE comes. I do remember no understanding fully why my mom was not there for my birthday, and knowing she was in the hospital, but thinking I didn't like it.

I think I was a good big sister for a period of time. I think I remember Tyann being a challenging infant, and since I have had my own kids, my mom will say.... "Oh yeah, Tyann did this that or the other..." And, I think I remember that.

And, then let me not bore you and skip to our teenage-ish years, and we DID NOT get along. That child stole everything from me, and either gave it to her friends, she wore it, or she just flat out hid it from me, such as clothes, and other things that were important to me. I feel like now, that a lot of siblings have this kind of relationship that are this far apart, but, we just did not click.

As time moved on, and probably notably when I moved to Indy, we did get closer, but never closer than we are right now. I have seen my sister turn into a lady that has her head on straight, compassionate, empathetic, passionate, and an over all good person. I have seen her turn into a blooming step mom, and she will be a spectacular wife I feel. Mike is someone that excepts my sister for who she is, and the good and the bad, as we all have... I have seen my sister mature in ways I didn't think was possible in the last few years with Mike, and I couldnt' be happier for that. I love my sister, I love who she has become, and even the relationship we had before... it is, what it is.
I wish her and Mike, and her stepson Logan the best that life can bring. I love that she has found a huge passion for animal rescue, and I love that I think she will be another positive role model for Logan. Cheers to many great years Millers!