The Bravest Little Girl in the world

Both of my girls amazed me when they went to the dentist however, Brady proved to me last night that she is far braver then she showed me at the dentist.

 

(I am going to include lots of details, for my own documenting purposes, sorry if it gets lengthy)

 

Last night, July 30th, we had a function at Karl’s Commanding Officer’s house. We were getting ready to go around 8:45 so I brought Brady with me to the restroom. It was a small little half bath. I was closing the door, when Brady stuck her hand in the hinge. After the Conways (the CO) volunteered to watch Reese for us, we headed to the ER.

 

If you have a light stomach don’t read this paragraph: Her finger nail on her left ring finger completely came off. Also, about half way down the nail bed, she had a very deep laceration that went half way across her finger. X-rays confirmed there was no damage to her bone. However the cut went all the way to the bone, such that I actually could see it.

After assessing the injury and noting how agitated Brady was they decided that Brady needed to be fully sedated so that they could properly repair the damage. We had to wait until her dinner was digested, thus they schedule a surgery for 7 in the morning. It broke my heart that she would be dealing with an open wound for such a long time. They sterilized her finger, wrapped it up and gave her morphine so that we could peacefully wait out the night.

 

We were admitted to the hospital at midnight. The nurse was telling me how everything in the room worked, when she happened to mention there were free kids’ movies. As soon as she left the room, Brady politely asked to watch a movie. Here it was after midnight, knowing she needed sleep, I just couldn’t say no to her. So we sat up and watched Bolt until about 1:20. Then feel asleep with me in the bed beside her.

I didn’t much sleep for various reasons, so I had a long night of waiting for the surgery time to roll around. They came in twice to check Brady’s vitals, and I changed her into a gown (she still had on her street clothes) to prep for surgery and Brady slept through it all. She was TIRED! She didn’t even wake up, until I passed her to a nurse to go off into the OR. WHAT a TROOPER!!!

 

The procedure took about an hour. Then I got to join her in recovery. She was stubborn and didn’t want to wake up. It took them about ten attempts of saying her name and shaking her, then waiting 5 minutes to try again. She was in some pain when she woke up, and it took them over an hour to order the meds and get them to her. She got to have Tylenol 3 at this point. I also put a band-aid on her Bitty Baby so they could recover together. Brady loved telling her doll to be careful, not use the hurt hand, etc.

While waiting we watched another kids’ movie, Alien 3, ate lunch and soon discharged after that. We got to     go home around 12:45. Our follow up appt. is this Thursday    at 11:45.

 

I am also grateful for the wonderful friends I have in Pensacola. Once we got to the ER and realized we were in it for a long time. We called up our good friends, Jeff and Kristen, and they got Reese from Karl’s boss. They put her to bed at their house. She didn’t have her usual crib lovies or her pacis and they were able to get her to sleep through the night. Big thanks to the Moores!!! I even think she may have slept in a toddler bed for the first time in her life. Jeff also did all this on his birthday.

 

Random notes from the experience:

• At the beginning when Brady was really agitated, she keep saying she needed a “big band-aid”.
• Brady had to go through a lot and for not really understanding some things of the process like having to do lots of waiting, she was the most patient and brave little girl I could imagine.
• Even when extremely tired, I didn’t mind spending several hours just watching my daughter sleep. Even with all the pain she had, she seemed so peaceful when sleeping.

 

• Reese is also a trooper. She was left at a strangers’ (to her) house. Then picked up by someone other then her parents, and she went to sleep for the night without us. She can be a huge momma’s girl, so I felt like this was a huge feat for her.

My Personal Stylist…living the high life

I have a personal hair stylist, makeup artist and manicurist. I bet you are jealous. Just look at the results I get when I put her to use…

Homemade and Yummy!

I decided to make  homemade applesauce with Brady. She had a blast.

 

My girls both love applesauce, but I don’t like to give it to them, because I think if I have fresh fruit on hand, that is the healthier option. I know they have to put preservatives in it since it is just sitting on the shelf in the grocery store.

 

We peeled 6 apples.

Boiled them in water, a little lemon juice, and a little cinnamon. Then mashed them with a fork (we like it chunky).

 

Then during dinner we reaped the benefits (well except Karl, not a fan of fruit).

I also loved that the next day, I added a dollop to their oatmeal and they loved it. Then the following day, we had warm applesauce for dessert. Homemade applesauce is much easier to make then you would think…

Wordless Wednesday: Brave little girls!

   

Growing UP…literally!

Karl and I have both noticed that our girls seem to be getting taller.

 

Besides, just looking at them, there have been the usual clues too. Dresses that used to be the prefect length, all of a sudden are a little risqué. Brady has been tripping like crazy ever since we got home from Tampa a week ago. She has a bruise on her ear (yes, it is strange to see), on her lower back, all over her legs, and yesterday she put her tooth through her lip.

 

Well a little ago we measured Brady on our growth chart at home. Compared to her 3 year old mark (which was like 6 weeks ago) she is an inch taller!!! At this rate, she may actually wear 3T pants this winter, which would mean she is actually wearing the clothes size that is the same as her age!!!!!!

 

I can’t wait until Reese wakes up from her nap, so I can see how much she has grown since her 18 month old tick mark.

Love hate relationship

What relationship am I speaking of?….READING NOVELS AND ME!

 

First, let me share with you one piece of information about me:

 

When I graduated high school, I had only read one novel in my entire life; Night by Elie Weisel (?spelling). I was never a reader and in school I did anything to squeak by without reading the novel as a whole. I just couldn’t do it. I would fall asleep within 2 pages or try my hardest to read, but realize I am reading the same paragraph 6 times.

 

I was diagnosed with ADD in college, took medicine, and then I discovered the love of reading. I had the attention span to actually read, and I found a new love. I have been off the medicine for 7 years, but somehow, the short time I was on it I trained myself how to read.

 

Shortly after graduating college (when the demands of assigned reading were gone) I found MY author: Nicholas Sparks. I could sit down for 5 hours and read his books. So by 3 years after graduating college I had read EVERY book he had released…quite a change from high school, huh!!!!

 

Well, now I alternate between reading his books and Jodi Picoultt (MY other author). I LOVE to read books and when I am in between books, I feel like something is missing. But, I HATE when I am reading a book because that is all I want to do. I find myself allowing Brady to watch an extra TV show then I allow, because I want just 30 extra minutes to read my book. I LOVE the way the books bring to light life lessons that help me bring to perspective things I wouldn’t think of on my own. I HATE that almost every book, I spend reading a full chapter in tears. I LOVE that I LOVE reading.

 

I just finished The Last Song by Sparks, literally minutes before sitting to share my thoughts with you. I always feel so empty after the book is over because I want to know more. I HATE when I get to the last page, I always want more. But at the same time, after I close the book (after reading the last page) I fill with pride knowing that I finished yet another novel! I still purchase all my novels, as opposed to using the library, because I want to keep each book on a shelf, like a little trophy for me.

Wordless Wednesday: It’s all in the name!

Topomax free

I have been on medication for the Pseudotumor Cerebri off and on for the 5 years since my diagnosis. My new doctors down here in FL suggested I try tapering off the meds to see what happens. It took 6 weeks to slowly taper of the meds since Topomax is such an aggressive drug. But for the last ten days I haven’t taken anything….so far so good!!!! I am very excited that it has gone so smoothly for me!!!! Fingers crossed that it continues to go this well…

 

Also, in the topic of health, while on vacation last week, due to the lack of resources we gave Reese wheat quite a bit. It also went pretty well. Thus, now we are giving her wheat even now that we are back home. YAH for the freedom to feed her anything. She had a peanut butter sandwich for lunch yesterday and LOVED it, and then she got to have a roll like the rest of us at dinner. This has always been a struggle when she asks for bread, and we have to say no. NOT ANYMORE!!! YAH!

Good times in Tampa

Well tonight is our last night in Tampa. We have had a blast and the girls have loved every minute (well almost) of the vacation. We got to go to Busch Gardens (3 days), Sea World, MOSI, and the Florida Aquarium. WOW, that’s a lot!!!

 

Here are some interesting (but random) thoughts from the week:

• Brady is almost over her fear of life size characters…maybe she will sit on Santa’s lap this year
• Reese (we think) has out grown her wheat tolerance. She got it all week long and seemed to do quite well.
• Brady loves flamingos
• Reese loves to ride the swings
• Both Reese and Brady are great troopers, they whined very little, even when we spent most days outside all day long in the 100+ heat index.
• Our family works well with plans, but did well when we had to be flexible…thanks, Karl!
• Taking the shuttle to Busch Gardens from the hotel isn’t the best plan. You might have to walk 1.5 miles back to the hotel to avoid the thunderstorm. It wasn’t worth the $12 parking fee we saved by not driving.
• Reese and Brady can spend the night in the same pack and play. We found that Brady had climbed in there one night and it wasn’t until 4:30 AM that Reese was crying for more space.
• We have made more memories to keep close to our hearts in this week then I could have possibly imagined…. I LOVE MY LIFE!

Pictures!

I am going to try to keep the picture website updated each night…so I can keep enough space on my memory card. So keep checking each night or early morning for updates…

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/orthner/TampaJuly2010#

 

Today we went to the Sesame section of Busch Gardens, I think we are going to the aquarium tomorrow…

Vacation

We are off to Tampa! I am using a handy app on my iPhone to share this with you.

Ever since we started packing mid day yesterday Brady has been galloping around the house so super pumped about going on vacation. I found this entertaining since she doesn't really know what that concept means. So we pull into a gas pump 5 minutes after leaving the house. Puzzled, Brady asks "is this vacation?"

Metamorphosis

Brady received a very neat and educational gift for her birthday. Heck, I even learned a whole lot from it!!!

A BUTTERFLY GARDEN!!! We had to wait patiently for the larvae to come in the mail, boy were we excited to find that box in the mail! There were 5 caterpillars inside the jar.

  

A few days after receiving the larvae, the caterpillars moved their way to the top of the jar and attached themselves to the top with their rear-ends. Then we watched and waited for the chrysalides to form. First thing I was amazed by, they formed the chrysalides within 10 minutes. I thought it would be a slow process. The next thing I was amazed by the caterpillars would move their heads up their body as it formed the chrysalides until it was formed, then the head would fall off.

We then moved the chrysalides from the jar into the ‘cage’. We hung it in our empty dining room and waited the long week while metamorphosis did its thing.

Another thing I learned, butterflies only live 1-2 weeks. So once the butterflies emerged we enjoyed them for a couple days in the ‘cage’ and them we released them. The type of butterfly we had are called Painted Ladies.

 

Lastly, I found it fascinating that the butterflies excreted a red substance from their rears. I haven’t a clue what purpose that serves.

Thanks Moore Family for such an fun yet educational gift!

Ronald McDonald House Firecracker 5k

This past Saturday 7/3/10, Brady and I ‘raced’ in the Ronald McDonald House Firecracker 5k. In 2005and 2006, Karl and I ran/jogged in it in honor of our anniversary. We liked the idea of supporting a charity and exercising all in one.

 

Well since it fell exactly on my anniversary this year I felt it was perfect. Karl was in Daytona watching a NASCAR race with his dad so I decided to bring Brady along. In the previous years I ran/jogged. I am little out of shape since I haven’t done aerobic exercise since my first pregnancy, so this time I signed up in the walking category. Brady was awesome in the jogging stroller, especially considering I had to wake her at 5:45 for a race that started at 7:30!

 

In the previous years, when I ran I came in at 41+ minutes. This year, with just walking, I came in at 46+ minutes! I placed 2nd in my age category for walkers (and I was pushing a stroller against the wind half the time).

 

But I loved getting to teach Brady more about RMH! When the race started, she asked “Are all those people going bye bye?”. I loved the teachable moment to tell her that everyone wanted to help out the sick children at RMH.

 

After the race, Brady spent the day running everywhere stating she needed to get exercise. I guess she overheard someone!

Fun with Beppa and GP

We stopped by Perdido Key. Most of the sand is still very white, they have done a great job cleaning up as the oil hits!

 

Then we all went to see Toy Story 3. Reese’s first time in a theater and Brady’s first time since she was like one year old. The girls were excited to see Woody on the big screen. But Reese enjoyed going up and down the stairs more.

 

 

The girls went shopping while the boys drove to Daytona to watch the NASCAR race. One of Beppa and Brady’s finds;  a bath for Bitty. Brady brought it home and used it right away!

 

Taking a trolley tour of the Naval Museum of Aviation

Thanks for coming to visit us, Beppa and GP we had a great time!

Wordless Wednesday: More Firsts for Reese

Happy Birthday (Colonized) America!

Wordless Wednesday: It has been an amazing 6 year ride that I am never getting off!

Reese’s list

So I was just thinking back when I started this blog my sister asked me to make a list of all of Reese’s words she had since Reese was talking up a storm. Well if you clicked on the link you saw the date on that post was not even 5 months ago.

 

I thought I would list for you now Reese’s songs she can sing. In the last week or two, she out of no where started singing several songs. When I rock her to sleep at night now she sings me the lullabies!

 

• Rock-a-bye baby
• row row row your boat
• happy birthday to you
• baa baa black sheep  THIS IS HER FAVORITE!!!
• If I sing the alphabet, she sings the part after ‘Z’
• Our time to sing together (intro song for kindermusik) this was the first song she sang in its entirety

I know the average person wouldn’t be able to understand that she is singing which song, but to me they are clear as day ;)