It's Thursday and I'm pooped. Seriously. Exhausted.
It's been a very busy, exciting week for us...but I can't help but wonder if it's the anemia. One of the many *fun* things about celiac is that anemia can accompany it. I *should* be taking 1 million grams of iron/day says Dr Zafar. I *am* taking 0 grams of iron/day. I mean, c'mon...the #1 side effect of iron pills is constipation. I'm a GI patient and you want me to take something that's gonna interfere with that system?!? Yeah, not gonna happen. BUT...I'm really starting to consider it to get some energy back.
Anyway, here's our busy week in rundown form...
MONDAY - YMCA day. I go to Zumba aerobics class while the kids play in the child care. They absolutely love it. The girls color and do other "big kid" projects while Luca explores and plays with all sorts of new toys. When I came to pick them up this week, Luca turned the other way when he saw me b/c he wanted to keep playing.
TUESDAY - PDO day. P&E went to PDO while Luca and I went to United Services to drop off P&E's forms for preschool enrollment and then we headed to Super Wal-Mart for grocery shopping. Doubled back to pick up P&E and headed home. I also have pilates on Tuesday nights, but as much as I dread it the entire day...I really do enjoy it. Plus our class went out for cocktails afterwards. The way I felt that night and the next morning confirmed that I am too old for mid-week partying ;)
WEDNESDAY - Grandma Rogan day. Grandma came to sit with baby Luca while I took P&E to the free movie again. We saw The Bee Movie with Kelly and Jakob. Then the girls and I walked across the parking lot to Red Robin for lunch. We had a balloon incident on the way out. Let's just say, 1 floating away and 1 popped balloon later, we were on our way home. I also got the distinct pleasure of helping Aunt Angela register for her baby (due in November) that evening, which was great fun, but walking around BRU all night wore me out and I'm not even pregnant!
THURSDAY - Grandma Bast day. Grandma came to sit with Luca while P&E and I were supposed to go to the Tot Swim at Wapelhorst Park in St Peters, but the weather had other ideas. With a couple phone calls to Kelly and Jakob, we changed our venue to Monkey Joe's.
Enter exhaustion.
TOMORROW - YMCA day again. We'll go for gymnastics class at 9:30 and then see where the day/weather takes us.
WEEKEND - Most likely a trip to Six Flags. And then it all starts over again. :)
Maybe it's not the anemia? Maybe it's just life with 3 kids?
Whatever it is, I'm very thankful to be this exhausted b/c it means I have kids to love. Kids who are healthy, active, energetic, and fun. Not everyone is this lucky.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
Six Flags by the Numbers
Times we've been to Six Flags this summer: 3
Routes we've taken to get there or back: 3
Fastest route thus far: 44 to 141 to 40 - 40 minutes
Degrees: Low 90s
Train rides: 3 (2 little kid train rides + 1 big train ride)
Carousel rides: 3 (2 little kid carousel rides + 1 big carousel ride)
Rides ridden: 9
Times we filled up our $1 refill cup: 2
Funnel cakes eaten: 1
Frozen lemonades eaten: 1
Times Ella used the potty: 3
Times Perry needed her diaper changed: 3
Times Luca needed his diaper changed: 1
Happy/exhausted kids: 3
Routes we've taken to get there or back: 3
Fastest route thus far: 44 to 141 to 40 - 40 minutes
Degrees: Low 90s
Train rides: 3 (2 little kid train rides + 1 big train ride)
Carousel rides: 3 (2 little kid carousel rides + 1 big carousel ride)
Rides ridden: 9
Times we filled up our $1 refill cup: 2
Funnel cakes eaten: 1
Frozen lemonades eaten: 1
Times Ella used the potty: 3
Times Perry needed her diaper changed: 3
Times Luca needed his diaper changed: 1
Happy/exhausted kids: 3
Gymnastics and Hemangiomas
We started gymnastics class at the Y today. It's P&E's 2nd time (we took them when I was pregnant with Luca in January/February 2007) and Luca's 1st time. They all seemed to enjoy it. P&E are much more "masterful" (if that's a word) on the equipment. I was able to snap a few pics, so look for those on the website in the next day or 2.
After gymnastics, we had to hightail it to Creve Coeur for an appointment with a new pediatric doc for Perry's hemangioma. I called Dr. Hagan's office a few weeks ago about doing a follow up appt and the secretary said they are no longer doing pediatric plastics there, so we were referred to Dr Borschel at Children's. Luckily, they have a west county office so we didn't have to go all the way in to Children's.
Anyway, we took in some pictures of when the hemangioma was at its worst and he took pictures of the pictures and new pictures of her hand today. He agreed that there seems to be some loose skin and discoloration still, but otherwise feels that the steroid treatments worked wonders. The solutions to the 2 "issues" though are 1) laser treatment that would require her to be under anesthesia for a few minutes with no down time and it would hopefully help the pink color to go away, and 2) surgery to remove the excess skin which would leave her in a splint for a couple weeks.
While we don't feel either option is *neccessary*, we are definitely keeping them in mind. I'd hate for her to wish that we had done something...if it ends up bothering her down the road. And in my experience in working with kids, they do notice even the smallest things. We'll see. Nice to have options.
After gymnastics, we had to hightail it to Creve Coeur for an appointment with a new pediatric doc for Perry's hemangioma. I called Dr. Hagan's office a few weeks ago about doing a follow up appt and the secretary said they are no longer doing pediatric plastics there, so we were referred to Dr Borschel at Children's. Luckily, they have a west county office so we didn't have to go all the way in to Children's.
Anyway, we took in some pictures of when the hemangioma was at its worst and he took pictures of the pictures and new pictures of her hand today. He agreed that there seems to be some loose skin and discoloration still, but otherwise feels that the steroid treatments worked wonders. The solutions to the 2 "issues" though are 1) laser treatment that would require her to be under anesthesia for a few minutes with no down time and it would hopefully help the pink color to go away, and 2) surgery to remove the excess skin which would leave her in a splint for a couple weeks.
While we don't feel either option is *neccessary*, we are definitely keeping them in mind. I'd hate for her to wish that we had done something...if it ends up bothering her down the road. And in my experience in working with kids, they do notice even the smallest things. We'll see. Nice to have options.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
New Look
Just wanted to say that I revamped our blog site. I realized it didn't include Luca in it...after almost 15 months :) And hopefully this will be the start of more frequent blogging.
AND...Ella stayed completely dry again today! I think this is the 3rd day in a row! We even had an outing today...a movie date with Kelly & Jakob and a trip to Wal-Mart/Subway. She used the public potties twice and stayed dry (with a pull up).
Tonight I told her to try her best to keep her night time diaper dry. We'll see how it goes!
AND...Ella stayed completely dry again today! I think this is the 3rd day in a row! We even had an outing today...a movie date with Kelly & Jakob and a trip to Wal-Mart/Subway. She used the public potties twice and stayed dry (with a pull up).
Tonight I told her to try her best to keep her night time diaper dry. We'll see how it goes!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Ella's Potty Training Update
Ella is doing SO well with the potty training, I thought it deserved another blog entry!
So I posted last Thursday that we had one pee accident. About an hour later, we had a poo accident and I think that was the turning point that we needed. It was pretty upsetting for her but I think it helped her realize how important it is to keep her panties dry and clean. It was naptime so I put a diaper on her, but after her nap, she was very good about telling us when she needed to go potty and no more accidents.
On Friday, we picked up where we left off but we had a small poo accident. Saturday and Sunday had one pee accident each day. But Monday and Tuesday, no accidents!!! And today, they went to PDO. I put a pull up on her but she kept it dry and she used the little toilet there 3 times! Woo hoo!! She was dry after her nap too.
Hopefully she'll keep that up for the rest of the week and we can go to panties all the time during the days! And I think we'll be able to get rid of the night time diaper soon after that.
Oh and we started using Smarties candies as a reward for pottying, but then it got to the point where she was going ALL the time to get candy...and of course Perry and Luca wanted some too ;) So we moved onto a sticker/chart reward system. Luca and I visited the dollar store today and picked up some "prizes". Good thing b/c she filled up her upstairs chart today. She picked the "red" present, which was a Strawberry Shortcake figurine. It wasn't easy explaining to Perry why Ella got a present and she didn't, but somehow, we managed.
Stay tuned!
So I posted last Thursday that we had one pee accident. About an hour later, we had a poo accident and I think that was the turning point that we needed. It was pretty upsetting for her but I think it helped her realize how important it is to keep her panties dry and clean. It was naptime so I put a diaper on her, but after her nap, she was very good about telling us when she needed to go potty and no more accidents.
On Friday, we picked up where we left off but we had a small poo accident. Saturday and Sunday had one pee accident each day. But Monday and Tuesday, no accidents!!! And today, they went to PDO. I put a pull up on her but she kept it dry and she used the little toilet there 3 times! Woo hoo!! She was dry after her nap too.
Hopefully she'll keep that up for the rest of the week and we can go to panties all the time during the days! And I think we'll be able to get rid of the night time diaper soon after that.
Oh and we started using Smarties candies as a reward for pottying, but then it got to the point where she was going ALL the time to get candy...and of course Perry and Luca wanted some too ;) So we moved onto a sticker/chart reward system. Luca and I visited the dollar store today and picked up some "prizes". Good thing b/c she filled up her upstairs chart today. She picked the "red" present, which was a Strawberry Shortcake figurine. It wasn't easy explaining to Perry why Ella got a present and she didn't, but somehow, we managed.
Stay tuned!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Summer Summary
I feel bad when I don't blog, but then I think about the fact that no one probably reads this anyway :) I promise to do better. In the meantime, here is a summary of our summer thus far:
Vacations...
We went to Pensacola, FL for a week with Dave's family and to Kansas City, MO for about 5 days for Dave's cousin Justin's wedding. I'm sure you all saw the pictures so there's not much to recap on those trips, except that I am SO thankful that P&E actually walked down the aisle :) Woo hoo!
We would like to take another trip sometime in August - October, but we're not sure. We priced out a week at Beaches Turks & Caicos for the low low price of $12K...uh, that's not gonna happen. Club Med is an option since they are geared towards families as well. We'll see. Of course Dave would like to go somewhere sans kiddos. Dream on hubby ;)
Appointments...
In my last blog entry I said no more appts for the girls until age 3, but then I called to check in with Perry's plastic surgeon (for her hemangioma on her hand) and they are no longer seeing hand patients, so we've been transferred to a new doc at Children's. So of course he wants to see her to do an "assessment" so to speak. Shouldn't be a big deal, I think it is healing quite nicely.
Ella's ortho appt went well. They did x-rays and had her walk around and she was such a big girl! I was so proud of her. She IS knock-kneed (and that's the medical term) but not to the point of it being a concern right now. He said it may get worse before age 3 but then she should start to *straighten* out. He does want to see her next year though to check in with us...which is good. And he said Crocs are a great shoe b/c of their supportive arches...sweet!
Luca has his 15 month appt coming up at the end of this month and we need to get him in with the pediatric GI doc to do the celiac blood test. Not that we think he has it, but they recommended all the kids be tested since I have it.
School...
We got put on the waitlist at United Services but they said they don't think they'll have 2 openings before school starts...so we got recommended to the Saint Peters branch. It's a lot further than I wanted to drive, so we're not sure what we'll do. For now, P&E are still at PDO in Harvester (for the summer) and are registered for the year as well, but we'll see. They have a preschool there too, but most schools want kids to be 3 by August 1st and unfortunately, we're not. :(
Oh and a cute story from PDO. I asked if P&E play with other kids or if they gravitate towards each other all the time and the teachers said they do a little of both. They have the kids hold hands to walk to the playground and the teachers have been making an effort to get P&E to hold other kids' hands, but on the way back in that day, Ella grabbed Perry's hand and when the teacher came over, she said "I hold Perry's hand"...and that was that :)
Activities...
We are now official members at the YMCA here in O'Fallon. In addition to becoming members, I signed up for an aerobics class and signed all 3 kids up for a gymnastics class. They can all go together b/c it's 12-36 months. We'll get discounts on classes for the kids now and a lot of the aerobics classes are free, along with the nursery/child watch. So maybe P&E will be back in dance class soon?
We are also season pass holders at Six Flags. After our great experience at Worlds of Fun, we thought we'd give it a whirl. It's fun, but not as kid-oriented as WoF was. Dave and I hadn't been in years so it took us awhile to get reacquainted with the park. The kids' area is very spread out too. And I forgot how hilly it is...pushing 2 strollers and 3 kids around is quite the work out. Maybe we don't need that Y membership?? LOL!
Talking...
The girls are talking more and more, which is great! They know lots of colors...red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, white, black, gray, and khaki! Yup, khaki! And it is SO cute to hear them say it. Ella loves the number 2. Everything is 2. 2 trucks mommy? 2 monkeys mommy? 2. 2. 2. Of course we hear a lot of grunts, groans, and moans still too. It's a process.
Luca still mumbles "da da" all day long, but occasionally if you ask him to say things, he will repeat you. Especially "dog" and "no". And he's working on molars right now so he's a big drooly mess ;)
Potty training...
Yup, we've started. Today is actually the first official day. Ella is in big girl panties. I decided Perry's not quite as ready as Ella is, so Perry is in a holding pattern right now. She'll wear pull ups occasionally and her big girl panties OVER her diaper/pull up and she'll watch Ella in the bathroom, but no potty training for her yet. Ella has gone pee on the potty about 5 out of 7 or 8 times. The other times, she says she needs to go, but really doesn't. I figured as much. We just had our first accident. It was about 5-10 minutes before I was going to have her try again and she went...in her panties, in her shorts, down her legs, in her sandals, on the carpet. Of course it couldn't be the tile or the deck. Ah well. At least the first accident is out of the way. I thought for sure she'd be upset about it which would work to our advantage, but she wasn't. So we'll give this whole thing a few more days and see how it pans out. If it turns out that she's not ready, so be it. Cuz Mommy's certainly not ready ;)
I think that's about it on our end. I won't dare say that we're not exciting, b/c every minute of every day is a thrill ride. Till next time!
Vacations...
We went to Pensacola, FL for a week with Dave's family and to Kansas City, MO for about 5 days for Dave's cousin Justin's wedding. I'm sure you all saw the pictures so there's not much to recap on those trips, except that I am SO thankful that P&E actually walked down the aisle :) Woo hoo!
We would like to take another trip sometime in August - October, but we're not sure. We priced out a week at Beaches Turks & Caicos for the low low price of $12K...uh, that's not gonna happen. Club Med is an option since they are geared towards families as well. We'll see. Of course Dave would like to go somewhere sans kiddos. Dream on hubby ;)
Appointments...
In my last blog entry I said no more appts for the girls until age 3, but then I called to check in with Perry's plastic surgeon (for her hemangioma on her hand) and they are no longer seeing hand patients, so we've been transferred to a new doc at Children's. So of course he wants to see her to do an "assessment" so to speak. Shouldn't be a big deal, I think it is healing quite nicely.
Ella's ortho appt went well. They did x-rays and had her walk around and she was such a big girl! I was so proud of her. She IS knock-kneed (and that's the medical term) but not to the point of it being a concern right now. He said it may get worse before age 3 but then she should start to *straighten* out. He does want to see her next year though to check in with us...which is good. And he said Crocs are a great shoe b/c of their supportive arches...sweet!
Luca has his 15 month appt coming up at the end of this month and we need to get him in with the pediatric GI doc to do the celiac blood test. Not that we think he has it, but they recommended all the kids be tested since I have it.
School...
We got put on the waitlist at United Services but they said they don't think they'll have 2 openings before school starts...so we got recommended to the Saint Peters branch. It's a lot further than I wanted to drive, so we're not sure what we'll do. For now, P&E are still at PDO in Harvester (for the summer) and are registered for the year as well, but we'll see. They have a preschool there too, but most schools want kids to be 3 by August 1st and unfortunately, we're not. :(
Oh and a cute story from PDO. I asked if P&E play with other kids or if they gravitate towards each other all the time and the teachers said they do a little of both. They have the kids hold hands to walk to the playground and the teachers have been making an effort to get P&E to hold other kids' hands, but on the way back in that day, Ella grabbed Perry's hand and when the teacher came over, she said "I hold Perry's hand"...and that was that :)
Activities...
We are now official members at the YMCA here in O'Fallon. In addition to becoming members, I signed up for an aerobics class and signed all 3 kids up for a gymnastics class. They can all go together b/c it's 12-36 months. We'll get discounts on classes for the kids now and a lot of the aerobics classes are free, along with the nursery/child watch. So maybe P&E will be back in dance class soon?
We are also season pass holders at Six Flags. After our great experience at Worlds of Fun, we thought we'd give it a whirl. It's fun, but not as kid-oriented as WoF was. Dave and I hadn't been in years so it took us awhile to get reacquainted with the park. The kids' area is very spread out too. And I forgot how hilly it is...pushing 2 strollers and 3 kids around is quite the work out. Maybe we don't need that Y membership?? LOL!
Talking...
The girls are talking more and more, which is great! They know lots of colors...red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, white, black, gray, and khaki! Yup, khaki! And it is SO cute to hear them say it. Ella loves the number 2. Everything is 2. 2 trucks mommy? 2 monkeys mommy? 2. 2. 2. Of course we hear a lot of grunts, groans, and moans still too. It's a process.
Luca still mumbles "da da" all day long, but occasionally if you ask him to say things, he will repeat you. Especially "dog" and "no". And he's working on molars right now so he's a big drooly mess ;)
Potty training...
Yup, we've started. Today is actually the first official day. Ella is in big girl panties. I decided Perry's not quite as ready as Ella is, so Perry is in a holding pattern right now. She'll wear pull ups occasionally and her big girl panties OVER her diaper/pull up and she'll watch Ella in the bathroom, but no potty training for her yet. Ella has gone pee on the potty about 5 out of 7 or 8 times. The other times, she says she needs to go, but really doesn't. I figured as much. We just had our first accident. It was about 5-10 minutes before I was going to have her try again and she went...in her panties, in her shorts, down her legs, in her sandals, on the carpet. Of course it couldn't be the tile or the deck. Ah well. At least the first accident is out of the way. I thought for sure she'd be upset about it which would work to our advantage, but she wasn't. So we'll give this whole thing a few more days and see how it pans out. If it turns out that she's not ready, so be it. Cuz Mommy's certainly not ready ;)
I think that's about it on our end. I won't dare say that we're not exciting, b/c every minute of every day is a thrill ride. Till next time!
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