Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars

For Mom and Dad on Cruise

Cody's 9 Month Check-up

Long and lean....

Cody weighed in at 21 lbs 4 oz (56th percentile) and is 30 inches long (90th percentile). He is borderline anemic so we will watch that the next three months, but he was very brave and didn't shed a tear during the finger prick - smiled the whole time. He is behind in meeting his developmental milestones (so was Jadon), but the poor guy gets very little floor time with three toddlers running around, so I'm going to start working with him everyday. All in all he is doing great and is getting more and more handsome each day. Below are the stats for all the kids.

Click to Enlarge

A Disney Delight

Sunday afternoon we took the kids to see Disney on Ice. We weren't sure if they were really old enough to enjoy it yet, but bought the tickets and hoped for the best. Boy were we surprised!!! What a perfect event for the family. The kids were mesmerized and loved every minute. In life you have good days and bad days, easy times and hard times, but every now and then you have a perfect moment. During Disney I had Kaylee and Jadon in my lap and Jerry had Cody and Addison. I looked at my family as they sat watching The Little Mermaid dance around the ice and I was literally moved to tears, it was a perfect moment. I never dreamt I could love my family so much, but they are my world. We left the show with all our souvenirs and left over cotton candy. Kaylee cried "more, more, more" all the way to the car she was soooo upset the show was over but they all talked about the "mean octopus lady, Ursula" (from the Little Mermaid" all through dinner. The show highlighted The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Lilo and Stitch, and Peter Pan... but the Little Mermaid was clearly the favorite.

Generous?

Obamas tax records were just released and they reported adjusted gross income of $2,656,902 and also reported donating $172,050 or about 6.5 percent of their adjusted gross income.

I found this to be rather interesting list, it's Obama's charitable donations expressed as a % of his income... Interesting how he starts donating once he enters the political arena.

2006: 6.1%
2005: 4.7%
2004: 1.2%
2003: 1.4%
2002: 0.4%
2001: 0.5%
2000: 0.9%

Here is a link to his tax returns:
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/tvnews/nightly%20news/_tab%20boxes/obama_tax_return.pdf

Texas Tea

I've been sitting and reading about the April 15th Tea Parties. Thought this was good,

"Atlanta protester Dwight Alcala says his main concern is that free-for-all government spending leads to a freeloader mind-set that’s antithetical to the Constitution’s guarantees of individual rights. We’re fed up, and we think there’s a better way."

The media has tried to downplay the Tea Parties with minimal coverage and mockery. But the turnout was great: Atlanta was estimated to have 15,000 people. According to the San Francisco Chronicle a Sacramento rally drew about 5,000, and Associated Press reported that 1,000-2,000 attended a D.C. rally. According to CNN.com “tens of thousands of people spent part of April 15” at tea party demonstrations. Sounds like we had over 5,000 right here in The Woodlands.

It was the best of times and it was the worst of times

What a rough couple of weeks.....

Doctors appt for my hernia and diastasis downtown
Cody's eyes probed.... horrible
Doctors appt for my heart (annual check for bicuspid heart valve)
Emergency room with Kaylee for stitches
Kaylee can't eat solids or drink from sippy cup for a week, not going well very upset about new diet
Addison has nightmare at 12:30 and I can't get back to sleep for hours
Mom sick with shingles, can't touch Cody
Have to wear 24 hour heart monitor for irregular heartbeat
No school Monday due to Easter holiday (no breaks for me)
Kaylee home from Tues Gym and Wed School due to injury (no breaks for me)
School calls Wednesday Jadon is throwing up and running fever
Cody's eye infection returns, once again on eye drops, appears probing didn't work
Emotions are high and patience is short

We all have good days and bad days.... it's been bad for a while so it's gotta get better soon...

Easter Emergency

The kids had a wonderful Easter this year. They went to a community Easter egg hunt on Saturday and met the Easter bunny and then we all went to Church Easter morning. Later that afternoon my Mom fixed a Easter meal and we had another egg hunt. A perfect day aside from some normal whining.... We put the babies down for naps a while later heard Kaylee screaming then I heard Jerry screaming, "Oh My TRACY!!!! HURRY!!!" Kaylee was covered in blood coming from her mouth and screaming. At quick glance we saw the skin inside her mouth laying open so I rushed her to emergency so quickly I forgot to put on shoes and my Mom went with me. I was glad Mom was there and Kaylee is sooo close to her. The doctors worked slowly with Kaylee and after some codeine and rest, Kaylee layed on my Mom and let the doctors stitch her up. She was very brave.... Her mouth is a mess and she has a ton of stitches in her mouth, but is doing ok. She apparently was reaching for a toy on the floor and fell out of her bed and landed on the bedframe (the wood siderail that holds the mattresses up) of Addison's bed. Oh, the girls looked beautiful Easter morning in pink dresses and Easter bonnets and the boys in matching blue overall shorts, but I couldn't get everyone to hold still for photos.....

Easter Egg Hunt Photos

I signed the consent form....

"Many children are born with an underdeveloped tear-duct system, a problem that can lead to tear-duct blockage, excess tearing, and infection. Blocked tear ducts are a fairly common problem in infants; as many as one third may be born with this condition. Fortunately, more than 90% of all cases resolve by the time kids are 1 year old with little or no treatment. "

Ever since Cody was born he has had clogged tear ducts which has not allowed his eyes to properly drain into his sinus cavity. Addison had it up until about 5 months without much issue. Cody however has been having reoccurring infections due to the problem. Therefore, his pediatrician referred him to an opthamologist and a decision was made that it was time to "probe the ducts." In children over a year, they are sedated for the procedure but the anesthesia risk is higher in children under one year so they are restrained instead....

Well, yesterday Cody had his ducts probed and I watched in pain & horror through it all. I had the option to leave the room, but felt a need to be with him even if he didn't know I was there and my dad was there for support. He was strapped down on a papoose board and his head restrained while probes (not one but many) were inserted into his ducts over and over again. When the blockage (which is at the bottom of the duct by the nose) was cleared he bled a LOT from the mouth, nose, and eyes (since they are all connected through the nasal cavity) all the time screaming.... Then we did the next eye. All in all the procedure took about 10 minutes, but felt like an eternity. The procedure is about 85% effective the 1st time, but sometimes has to be repeated and balloons placed in the ducts to stretch them out. If it doesn't work this time for him, he will have to be sedated next time for a more aggressive approach (ha, like this wasn't aggressive). I pray this takes care of it. Here is a photo of the brave little man a couple hours after the procedure. If you click and blow it up you can see the dried blood in his nose, poor guy.

Today, he is looking fine and doesn't seem to remember a thing, but I will remember it my whole life!!!!!

P.S. Thanks Dad for going with me!!!!

Homeschooling???

As the kids get older I begin to worry more and more about outside influences in the world. It seems that God has become a bad word and more and more people are turning away from family values and the sanctity of marriage. I have thought hard about homeschooling and it is very appealing, but right now Jerry isn't sure so I will just continue to pray on it and see what happens. I love this quote, “I’ve seen the village, and I don’t want it raising my child.”

I found this however and thought it was cute. (Click on it to enlarge).




















It is our job and duty to teach our children Christian morals and values....
These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. "Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)

Related?

Well, the have different noses and don't look exactly alike, but I think Addison at around 8 months looks a lot like Cody at 8 months....