Happy Birthday!

Today is Brian's birthday!!

The kids were SO excited - especially Braden! They gave him a group hug after he opened his presents.

We went out to dinner at the Chinese buffet place (and Braden was very quizzical - why is there a "T" at the end of buffet?) and even though it's been ages since we've been out to eat as a whole family - it went so smoothly. THAT was a great gift for Brian, too!

Karly's View

Karly got a camera for her birthday in November. Today, she showed me this picture and said I should put it on the blog:

Popcorn Wendy & Ruby

Wordless Wednesday

Girls, Updated!

Ruby's bloodwork is good, just fine. Her thyroid is fine - her TSH is still high, but it continues to lower. So, once again - we'll just repeat bloodwork in a few months.

I didn't hear anything back about her x-ray today. And, I know her Atlanto-Axial x-ray isn't really "Official" until she's over the age of 3, but this is a preliminary or baseline look at Ruby's neck.

The main reason we did it is because she continues to climb up on everything and everything, and then sometimes she forgets to climb down backwards. Sometimes, she tries to just roll off onto her head.

We haven't turned her car seat around yet - things were so hectic here today, but I'm sure when we do there will be pictures involved!

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As for Karly & the saga of her toe - she's no longer on IV antibiotics!! They're taking out her PICC line tomorrow!!

She's on a new antibiotic for a couple weeks - AND? the really big news? Karly swallowed a pill tonight. I can not even describe how HUGE of an accomplishment that was for her!! She also swallowed 2 tic-tacs and an M&M as practice.

The really amazing part was that she was WILLING to even attempt this - and I'll be totally honest here:

I bribed her.

I was out of options, I had been trying to get her to try this for YEARS. She had no motivation, no interest at all.

So, I told her I'd buy her the new DS game she wanted if she could swallow these antibiotics. So, I may end up $40 poorer, but this is a huge step in her growing up and eventually, hopefully, being able to have more control over her daily meds.

Ruby Report: Almost 2!

Ruby will be TWO on May 9 - so I brought her in to the doctor today for her 2 year checkup. Everyone loves her - she paraded around the waiting room waving at everyone. Even pre-teen boys couldn't resist her charms. She's very persistent; she stands her ground and waves until she gets a response!

• Guess what? She's definitely growing! She's now 23 pounds, which puts her at 9% on the typical growth chart and about 60% on the DS chart. I knew she was growing - she's got cute little pudgy legs and a little belly now.

• We're all cleared for turning her forward facing in the car. We had to wait until she was 20 pounds, and then I wanted to wait until spring - just to avoid icy roads.
  
  
• I asked about getting the Atlanto-Axial x-ray on Ruby's neck since she's such a climber - and they did it today at the pediatrician's office! I wasn't expecting it to be that quick. We should hear the results tomorrow. She wasn't really thrilled about standing still for it, but she cooperated and didn't cry.
  
  
• Ru had bloodwork done - we're still monitoring her thyroid levels, since they've been off for several months. Again, we'll hear more about that tomorrow.

Can I just say again how much we love our pediatrician, Dr. B? Not only is she great with the kids, she keeps track of them. As she came into the room, she says, "Didn't Karly have an appointment in Milwaukee today?" She did! I had Karly in Milwaukee this morning with a follow-up on her toe. I should have more info about that tomorrow, too.

Ru & Mom

A few more pictures Gretchen took while they were over to play...

Playdate with Friends

Last weekend when Brian was out of town, our friends came over to play! Thank goodness - we needed something to break up the long days of just us, staring at each other. Because that's how we play when Brian's away. Or something.

Anyway. Since Brian is usually the one who remembers to take pictures, I appointed Gretchen the Official Blog Photographer for the play date. She may as well put those new skills she's learning in her photography classes to use, right?

She took her job very seriously, of course, even if it was unpaid. That same night, she emailed me these pictures.

I, however, was a big slacker. I emailed them to Brian ... and then didn't blog them.

UNTIL NOW!

Henry & Ruby will both be 2 in May

Braden had a blast playing with John & Grace

Miss Ru

Karly with Lucy
Karly's arm is only bandaged to protect her PICC line, as she is still receiving IV antibiotics three times a day.

Braden looking wary

The Magical Miss Ruby

Come with me - and just try to resist my charms!

See the chair I love to sit in while I cast my spells ...

My Daddy's already under my spell...

Next? The whole Internet!

Being irresistible is hard work!

Mommy's completely in my control, too! She loves this picture, since I'm such a big girl, yet I'm still so tiny!

Wordless Wednesday: Pretty in Pink

Photographs

While I was scrapbooking last month, I came across these old pictures from my childhood...

My brother, my Gram & Me

OOOoooH! Look, Mom - my Raggedy Ann doll!!

I loved that doll. I used to eat her hair. It was yarn. I didn't actually EAT it, but I used to suck on her hair. Years later, I was babysitting and the little girl had a doll just like the one I used to have - and it was so bizarre. It was like deja vu, I just knew what the doll's hair would taste like. (But I didn't try it!)

Ahem.

I may have gotten off track there for a moment.

Back to my original point... here's another picture from my childhood (and apparently at a time when my brother only owned one outfit, the little slacker).

Mike & Me

The thing that really struck me about these pictures, however, was how much my brother at this age looks like Ruby. His smile - those cheeks - his eyes - they all say Ruby.

And I think that to people who don't know someone with Down Syndrome, that might sound ridiculous. But really, even though Ruby has some features that are shared with other people who have Down syndrome, she's still genetically more like us, her family.

Ruby looks a lot like her big brother, too

Fun with Braden

I recently won a silent auction with a bunch of Pampered Chef stuff in it. One of the items was this ... rubber tube ... that's a garlic peeler. Well, Braden found it and was absolutely FASCINATED - I think that they're marketing this wrong.

Look how many fun uses it has!

A telescope, obviously

But it can also be a mustache, for those too young to grow their own!

And in that line of thinking - it can also be a long beard.

Which lead Braden to decide that someday, he wants a long mustache, without a beard.

I have a couple more Braden stories ... I thought about breaking them up into multiple posts, but you know what? I might never get them up if I wait.

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Friday, Braden was drawing pictures. He was explaining to me while I was cleaning up & making dinner - and I was only half listening. I was just "A-ha, that's nice" for a few minutes - then I realized he had pictures that were all me & Ruby & Braden.

"Braden, why am I so tall in that one? Is that when I was standing on the chair?" (because I'm short and the griddle is up really high, that's why I was on a chair)

Anyway - Yup! That's why he drew me tall.

He was drawing us in the rooms we were in. Then, as we moved to other rooms & did other things - he redrew us.

the 3rd from the left that's colored dark is me on a chair

On this one, the first room is the bathroom. It has Braden on the toilet (HAHAHA OH MY!) and then me - with Ruby on my hip! There's a line behind me, because we zipped in & out of the bathroom really quick (as Braden says).

(and just to clarify, Ru & I went into the bathroom before Braden was in there!)

He did this the other day with Little People and the LP House while he was playing upstairs. He assigned dolls for each of us, and then moved the dolls around according to where we were - Karly was reading in her room, Ruby & Dad were in the living room, Braden & I were upstairs together.

I have to admit, it was eerie for a minute, watching us be re-enacted by old school tiny Little People. Then I got over it, and kept him updated. I went downstairs to start dinner, and I'd yell up to him, "Ruby's in the kitchen with me, now!" and the likes.

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Braden also gained control of my little label maker this weekend. We used it not long ago for his Lego containers and while he was certainly intrigued, I didn't teach him how to use it until this weekend. He's now an expert at how it works, and for fairly obvious reasons, we are now out of label paper.

Braden ran around the house looking for words, typed them up, and then put the label over the original word. Like the speakers in the living room. The real fun will come when Brian comes home and discovers the labels all over the house - like another Easter Egg hunt! (And, by the way, I think we're still missing 4 candy-filled plastic eggs from the Egg Hunt Part II on Easter. Just in case you were wondering.)

Several of our light switches have been labeled for our convenience.
Several.

Sunday Already

With Brian gone all weekend, I had big ambitions for blogging. I thought I'd finally get caught up on all the little things I wanted to post about. Like I would spend the time after the kids were asleep, to blog.

Then? Last night, the Internet went down. D'oh!!


Ruby has a fake cough. It's adorable - when someone else coughs, she fake coughs into the back of her hand. (As my friend said, next we'll need to get her a fainting couch.)

So, I took a little video of the fake cough - and then she signed/said "kitty" as Lilo walked into the shot. I had to watch this video with Braden at least 6 times - he thought it was SO FUNNY how Lilo's tail got into the picture. And really? It is pretty darn funny!

A Moment of Normalcy

That's all I wanted. To have fun like a regular, normal family for a little bit. (What is normal? Are there any normal families out there??)

Ruby & I ran to the pharmacy this morning & when we got home, Brian & Braden were in the garage, putting air in the tires of the bikes. It's so nice out today! Then, spur of the moment - we decided to go out to lunch.

Braden was SO excited! He said, "We've never gone out to eat at LUNCH TIME before!" We have, but it's definitely been a long, long time.

Braden & I went inside - he was to go potty while I packed up the diaper bag.

Then? The phone rings. Karly's sick!!! Oh no!! So.... she has a majorly upset tummy. I had to go pick her up from school. Brian & the little kids went to pick up lunch. Poor Braden, disappointed again. Seems to be a theme lately - no wonder he's been acting up since Karly went back into the hospital.

Brian leaves for trivia in about an hour. He'll be gone all weekend. Send help.

Party Flags

Remember my wonderful friend, Gretchen, with the etsy site? Well she recently made some awesome & fun flags for my kids! I was so excited - and it took a few days, but I finally got them all up in the kids rooms. I used the little sticky utensil hooks to put them up, and so far so good - none of them have fallen down.

Braden's room:

His flags are "Lego colors" - bright, bold, primary colors (with black & white, since those are his favorites!)

Ruby's room:

Cute & girly - with purple for Lydia.

Karly's room:

I have to say, I was worried these might turn out to be pretty plain - but once I saw them, I loved them, too! They are Gryffindor colors! And they coordinate with her room very well.

The kids are all thrilled - and they really do add a nice touch of fun & color to their rooms. The nice thing is, it'll be easy to move them around if we want to; we just need to get a new set of hooks.

Thanks, Gretchen!

Earlier

I reread my other post, and I can't believe how blase and nonchalant I was - oh Braden's sick. We spent the entire morning trying to figure out if he should go to school today or not.

AND - how I said I took his temp 8 times? That was NOT an exaggeration. I totally left out the part about how we couldn't find our regular thermometers ... Then, the ear thermometer wasn't working, and the little one you stick on your forehead (like the nurse used to use in grade school!) wasn't reading too well (because I'd never used it before and wasn't sure how to read it).

So, finally I gave in - and Brian ran to Walgreens to buy a new thermometer. While he was gone, I was trying to find the school district policy - what counts as a fever? It just says not to send your child back for 24 hours after having a fever, but it doesn't say what number is actually a fever. Is 99? 100? 101? After all that, Braden's temp was fine.

Of course, 20 minutes later - I found our thermometer. It was still in our luggage from our trip to Blue Harbor. D'oh!

It was a freaking zoo all morning, and then, as we were getting him ready to go to school, he had to rush to the bathroom... and that was it. We gave up and called him in sick.

The big field trip he was talking about for days? He missed. Me, too - since I was going to tag along. I was so bummed, I was looking forward to our day together. So then we spent the rest of the afternoon watching TV and playing Scrabble Apple (which Braden got for Easter).

Not much sadder

than a 5 year old boy who has to stay home sick from school - on a field trip day.

Poor buddy!

He got a cough last night, he sounds so congested. He's pale and he feels warm, but I took his temperature about 8 times and he didn't have a fever. Then add in some tummy trouble ... Well, with all those symptoms - we figured it's best to keep him home & let him rest.

He's all snuggled into a nest in my bed now, watching one of Karly's movies - shhh! don't tell! She's still at school.

Wordless Wednesday: Ruby in the dishwasher

ps - I love her in jeans :)
These pics are from January.

Yet Another Ruby Video

Sorry. I can't help it!

She's so much fun. I have to share. Hey, at least it's only 45 seconds.

I love this video (taken Easter morning). Not only is she babbling & playing her new mini-maracas (they're called chic-itas or something?) but when I say, "good," she makes sure we all clap for her.

You can totally hear her saying, "Da da da" to Brian, too - right before she almost walks into the fridge.

This is why we don't hide REAL eggs

In a fit of sugar-high this afternoon, Braden re-hid all the (plastic, candy-filled) eggs that the Easter Bunny hid last night. So far? I've only found 6 of the 20 eggs.

He hides them better than the Bunny.

*Updated @ 8:00 pm: I've found 15 now! Yay, Mom!

Not that I need fudge anyway...

Seroogy's fudge eggs are fine, but I really miss Sayklley's. And how they will write your name on your fudge eggs in yellow frosting? Yeah. That's awesome. Awesome and totally delicious.

Next year, I'll have to see if Sayklley's ships. Or make a trip up north...

Happy Easter

Last year, remember how Easter was so early - it was in March? And last year, at Easter, Brian was with Karly at Children's getting her 5th round of chemo - which ended up being her last round, since her 6th was canceled, but we didn't know that yet!


So this year - while we're still stressed & overwhelmed & dealing with medical stuff - Karly's toe, Braden was constipated for 2 weeks and then Braden throwing up yesterday - at least we're all home together.

And? My favorite part of last year? Braden willingly & cheerfully waiting until Karly & Dad were home before the Easter bunny came to visit. LOVE that kid!

My favorite part of this year? (Besides everyone being out of the hospital, of course) Ruby walking around on her chubby lil' legs!

Two-Three

Guess who is 23 months old today!?

Miss Ruby!!
Marching around, looking for Braden
Really, you'd never know she'd only been walking for a month.

Tackle!

Big hugs for her big brother


This picture cracks me up - Braden's head looks HUGE!

Karly, a Self-Portrait

At the start of the 2nd semester, Karly added art class to her schedule. She was very nervous about it - mainly because her classmate told her they did self-portraits and they were SO hard!

Well, art is over and it's time for Karly to start gym. HA HA! She started gym on Monday, March 30th - and went in with a note excusing her from participating because of her toe, for 4-6 weeks. What timing!

Anyway - at the end of the quarter, Karly brought home her art work, including her self-portrait (which Karly said wasn't too bad, even though it was hard).

Oddly, I think her self-portrait makes her look a LOT like my mom. What do you think, Nana?

Nana & Karly at the Happiest Place on Earth - Disney World!


Okay - Karly & I are headed to Milwaukee now - she's got a follow up for her toe! WHICH - by the way - is actually looking better for once! YAY!!

Top Dog!

Each week, different students in 4K are picked to be the "Top Dog" - last week was Braden's turn! Each week, the Top Dog makes a poster to bring in - and at the end of the week, there's a little blurb about the Top Dogs (one in the morning & one in the afternoon class). These are so entertaining to read, so I've been looking forward to Braden's:

Did you know that Braden wishes the whole world was made of Legos? Someday he would like to be a Lego builder at the Lego store in Florida. He likes Wii, Legos (obviously), and Thomas the Train, but doesn't like juice, onions, or scary books/movies.

That's Braden in a nutshell! His poster is below:

(you can click on it to enlarge)

Lately, Braden's been surprising us by bursting out into song - singing songs we didn't even know he knew. The other day, out of nowhere, he began reciting The Pledge of Allegiance. I got the camera & he started over for me:

Ruby Walkin'

Just 30 seconds or so of Ruby walking around - she's really doing great! And, thanks to Karly she didn't just walk over & attack the camera!