Surgery moved up

Okay let me first let everyone know that these blogs are a week post dated. Ethan had surgery on 9/24 and I was off most of the week to care for him. I blogged when I had a chance but hadn't had a chance to finish them and post them. Sorry for the confusion...

Ethan at the urologist appoint when we first found out he would have to have surgery. He looks so young and it was only a little more than a month ago.

Okay... back to my story...

The weekend before surgery Ethan was in obvious discomfort from his hernia and was lifting his right leg more than he ever had before. He was all of the sudden not putting pressure on his right leg after diaper changes and even after just being picked up and then put back down. I called that Monday as soon as the office opened asking what I could do to make it better for him until surgery. It was very swelled at this point and even had blue tints to the right testicle. The doctor moved us to that Wednesday and Cooks had a cancellation so we were in. Now I only had a day and a half to prepare.

The next day (the day before surgery) we arrived at Melissa's house and Addi her daughter looked horrible. She had had diarrhea all night and was not feeling well. I reluctantly left the kids and headed to work. Less than 5 mins later I decided I was not comfortable with leaving Ethan there because he could NOT get sick before surgery and he needed it done asap. I went back and took them both home for the day. Thank God I have an amazing understanding job that allows me to take care of my children when I need to.

We had to be at the hospital by 7:30 the next morning and his surgery was scheduled for 9 am. My mom spent the night on Tuesday and dropped Paige off at Melissa's for us before she went to work. Thanks again Mom! We would have had to take her at like 6 am to get back and to the hospital in time and that would not have worked well for anyone.

We arrived at 7:31 am and of course Dallas and I were at each others throats because we were both so nervous. We couldn't find the garage so we said forget it and paid $5 for Valet. They moved our car like 5 feet by the way and that is where it sat all day. Registration was a breeze and Ethan was in a wonderful mood. We made our way up to pre op and waited to check in. The hospital was so nice and Ethan loved the middle with the castle of mirrors up top. We weren't kept waiting long and it was back for our consultation with the anasteseologist. We opted for the giggle juice first, gas, and a caudal epidural to control the pain when he woke up. They dressed him in his little gown, socks, and bands around both ankles. We then went to the playroom to wait for our turn.

He was so cute in that gown.

It was purple with koalas riding space ships and it had two ties in the back. His big diaper butt was separating the gown and I just couldn't quit smiling at how cute his little butt was sticking out of that gown. He had a great time playing in the waiting room!

Once they called our name it was time for his giggle juice. They warned us that he would probably scream and thrash around because it is a syringe up the nose of liquid that burns. They compared it to getting chlorine water up your nose when you jump in a pool. I held him tight expecting the worse and he just sat there coughing a little. She said it didn't taste good at all and you could tell on his face it didn't but he didn't move or scream at all. What a big boy!

Within minutes he was drunk with his eyes half shut and the cutest little face I have ever seen. He started clapping slowly and doing his little dance slowly. He was just a 100% sweeter than he is normally which is hard to imagine I know. They came in next to take him away for surgery. We met his two nurses and they put him on a stretcher and took him away. They were playing peekaboo with him all the way around the corner. Cooks Childrens didn't play around that is for sure. Our surgery was at 9 am and by 9:10 he was gone.

Dallas and I walked out to go find the waiting room. I immediately felt panic come over my entire body. I had to go outside for a few minutes. I came back in and just couldn't control the panic attack I was about to have. I knew Ethan would be fine but my body thought otherwise. I was shaking and feeling faint. It didn't help that I hadn't taken my Lexapro for three days because I ran out. I ask Dallas if I should take the half Zanac I brought with me and he said, "What! You haven't already!" "Yes, yes take it now!" Does he know me or what. I took it and within 5 to 10 minutes I was fine now all we had to do was wait...

He has to have surgery... what!

The major news of the past week was Ethan having surgery on Wednesday at Cook's Children's Hospital. Let me start with a little background information. Ever since Ethan was born we have always noticed that his right testicle was bigger than the left. Some times it would swell slightly but could be gone as fast as it came. We had ask the pediatrician a few times over the course of his short little life but she had never seemed concerned about it. She said it was possibly just fluid that was being absorbed back into the body and that was fine. I had even noticed that compared to other little boys around us his were much much larger than any of theirs. Since we had ask the doctor and nothing was wrong we just assumed our son was well endowed! Dallas was of course proud, ha! (He will kill me when he finds out I wrote that in here but I can't resist.)

Ethan has also had issues with his right leg and foot ever since he was big enough to sit in the high chair. Every once in a while he wouldn't put pressure on his right side when you put him down from the high chair. After a few moments he would regain composure and start standing and walking again. We had ask the pediatrician about this as well but since he would never do it at the office she said she couldn't really tell much. Since he only did it every once in a while we decided it must just be some sort of little cut on his foot or results of him stubbing his toe or something. He never cried when he did it nor did he ever do it except when getting out of the high chair. There was no physical evidence of injury on his body so we were all mystified.

When we went in for our 15 month check up his right testicle was swollen and she said she wanted it checked out by an Urologist. She referred us to Doctor Pinto in downtown Ft. Worth who was a Pediatric Urologist. It took us weeks to get in as you would expect with any specialist especially a pediatric specialist. Our appointment for consultation was on September 9th at 2 pm.

Originally I was going to have Dallas take him because he felt it was his responsibility to deal with the man problems but it was just easier for me to do it. I was highly impressed with the doctor upon leaving the office. We didn't have to wait that long and he seemed very knowledgeable of what he was doing. It didn't take him long to diagnose him and tell me that he was going to have to have surgery. He was diagnosed with a hydrocele with hernia in his right testicle. He was apparently born with an opening at the very top of were the testicle actually starts and if left untreated it can allow bowel in and cause a serious infection. He had an obstruction already through the opening and there was obvious pressure on him so surgery was a must. We scheduled the outpatient surgery for September 30th and he reassured me it was the second most common surgery for little boys right after circumstion.

I kind of put it out of my mind until I had to deal with it. It was necessary and there was nothing I could do about it so I decided to panic when it got closer... good plan, huh!

Baby clothes... baby clothes

Last Sunday evening April came over to go through about 10 tubs and 6 large garbage bags full of baby clothes before our planned garage sale. The garage sale was supposed to be this past Saturday but we postponed it until mid October. She was filtering out what she definitely didn't want and everything that wasn't season appropriate for her new addition due in February 2009.

We started with the largest tub of clothes and decided to try and go through them in the living room so she could sit on the couch. We both figured the kids would be very interested but she said she didn't mind. As soon as they saw the large plastic tub coming their way their little eyes just lit up. What is that and when can we explore it? First they stood around it and tossed clothes as fast as they could over their shoulders. Then they decided they weren't really getting the full effect of the experience so they climbed on top of the pile of clothes. April and I continued to dig out clothes around them and from underneath them laughing the entire time. Paige was trying to wear them all and I love when she tries to dress herself or put lotion on herself. Those little grown up things she does are about as cute as you can get in my opinion.

Once we reached the bottom of the tub we tossed it to the side so the kids could play in it while we finished separating the piles. I was tossing the garage sale clothes into the kids tub and they thought it was great so I covered them with all the garage sale items. They looked so cute with nothing but their top halves sticking out the mountain of clothes.

Safe to say we had to move our operation to the guest room after this tub was finished.

*I lightened the three pictures above, saved them and they look stupid. I don't want to wait to post this until I bring the camera back to work. AKA pardon the horrible color. Oops!

Little Bro Rocking Out

Last Saturday night, 9/20 Dallas, Keith, and I went to watch my little brother Brandon's band play. They had a gig at The Door in Fort Worth and we wanted to take advantage of the close location to finally get to see him play live. Brandon has always been gifted with music especially the drums. Even when he was very young he was always drumming with his fingers on everything. Safe to say it used to drive me up the walls!!! Now it seems that all that annoying tapping may turn out to be a lucrative skill.

Brandon has been in bands ever since he was old enough to join. The band he is in now is called Gun The Villian and is a heavy metal band. I don't particularly enjoy the screaming of the lead singer because I can't understand a word of it. Mom can't understand it either but Dallas and Keith didn't have a problem so maybe we just aren't cool enough to get it! The music itself is really good. All the members of the band are pretty good on their instruments and Brandon can definitely rock the drums! I have never truly supported Brandon's music dreams because I am too much like my Dad and don't really trust that you can count on something so uncertain for your future. But what do I know I don't have a career and I am doing just fine. Dallas wouldn't normally support the 'live your dreams' philosophy either but with Brandon he is torn. He says he is actually talented enough to make it and he thinks his current band is amazing. I guess the big sister in me just wants to protect him from his dreams being crushed but then again if he hits it big he knows we are planning on living off of him! We really enjoyed the night hanging out together and will be doing it again soon. Love you Brandon and good luck!

Pre show backstage picture.


Rocking out!
Pictures didn't turn out that great because of lack of light and I couldn't see Brandon in the back.


Dallas, Brandon, and Keith backstage after the show.


Brandon and I being stupid and Dallas trying to look tough!


Can't tell we are related, huh!

Yes, I am wearing a black headband with pink skulls on it. I had to pull out the appropriate clothing to fit in. Couldn't embarrass my brother by showing up looking like an old out of touch fart. By the way we were so old and out of place. The kids were even doing a dance in the mosh pit that none of us three had ever seen! Its official, we don't have a clue anymore! Dallas and I had accepted this fact a long time ago but this was a first for Keith. He is 25 and he was visually dumbfounded by the new dance and the realization of how out of touch he really is now. Welcome to the "not cool" side Keith don't worry you will get used to it!

Too funny

While cleaning out the garage last weekend I found a small bucket and brought it in the house for the kids to play with. (They don't have enough to play with already, right! HA) Both of the kids love to wear the big buckets on their heads as you have seen in past blogs. Well I thought it was just the cutest thing ever when they proceeded to put the small bucket on their heads as well.

Only thing better than a laundry basket..

The only thing better than a laundry basket is a laundry basket with a ducky in it! I just thought I would share how cute the kids where when they got into the laundry room and decided to pull out the empty laundry basket. Of course laundry baskets are hours of fun for any child. Before I knew it they were all trying to get in the basket with the big ducky but there wasn't enough room so eventually ducky was thrown out. Oh to be young and so easily entertained!

Battle Scars

Yesterday I got a message from Melissa while I was at work that Ethan had hurt his lip. My first question was how bad and what did he try to climb this time! Boys are just little accidents waiting to happen well toddlers in general. She said he and Landon were playing with one of their anywhere chairs and it was flipped over. Landon was sitting on one side and Ethan decided he wanted to flip it back over and climb on the other side. Ethan proceeded to flip it over Landon and all! He threw Landon's head straight into his face. Bam, two baby boys screaming! One with a fat lip and one with a knot on his head. Guess this is just one of the many many times ahead that the boys will get hurt being boys!

You should have seen the other guy!
Just kidding but little Landon did get a big lump on his head too, poor babies!

Happy Birthday Melissa

Last Sunday was Melissa's Birthday, the kids babysitter. Dallas and I went out with her and friends and family of hers. We started the night at Uncle Julio's in Grapevine which was fun because we had never been there before. It was a little pricey but it was a great atmosphere and good food. We went to a little bar in Arlington after we left the restaurant and hung out there for the rest of the night. We had a great time out together! It was nice to spend time with Melissa besides here's the kids they haven't pooped yet and see you later...

Happy Birthday Melissa!


Didn't we look cute!


After all these years we still like each other... most of the time! Just Kidding, I love him!

Ketchup anyone...

They finally ate ketchup! For some reason neither one of my kids will eat condiments or sauces of any kind. We have tried pastas with different kinds of sauce and they won't eat any of them. They are so used to eating meat, vegetable, and fruit that it is what they expect. Throwing a sauce and noodle in the mix is just too much.

Last week I decided to put a little ketchup on their trays with some chicken nuggets and see if they would at least try it this time. I dipped a couple pieces into the ketchup and left the rest up to them. At first they were very wary but within a few minutes they both were gobbling up their bites. They would stick a finger in the ketchup then pick up a bite of chicken and eat it. It's not really the right way but it works just the same. Paige ate more dinner that night than she ever does. Woo Hoo! Mommy was ecstatic! There is hope we may not be in a boring meat, veg, fruit pattern for the rest of our lives. Ha Ha

Oops! I didn't realize that the only pictures I took Ethan was drinking and not enjoying his ketchup. Oh well you get the point :)

They have been doing well with their forks and spoons too. I have discovered that Paige will eat her dinner better if you give her a utensil. She uses one hand to stab at the food with the fork and eats with the other hand. As long as she is in charge and feels like a big girl then she is happy. Ethan usually just holds the fork and eats with the other hand. The only thing they can actually get on the utensil and into their mouths alone is potatoes and man do they love mashed potatoes! I love children even food is fun time!!!

Sit Down

Ethan has finally conquered the recliner as of this past weekend. I don't have a problem with him being in the chair except that he stands up and pushes on the back. I am afraid he is going to tip it over and really hurt himself. I already learned with the couch that there is nothing you can do aside from taking the couch out of the room to keep the kids off of it. The same applies with the recliner, kitchen chairs, fireplace, and the list goes on. I was trying my best to get Ethan to sit down when he was in the chair but this attempt failed miserably just as it did with the couch months ago. He of course thought it was a game. He would stand up and I would tell him to sit down. He would say, "sit down" and plop down. Not 2 seconds later up he would go again. He did this so long that I had plenty of time to get the camera. I know I don't sound firm in the video but at this point it was just funny! Enjoy!

Markers and Paint

We busted out the finger paints for Melissa's birthday last week. The kids both made her a birthday painting. We have played with finger paint before but not that often because of the mess. Ethan loved the finger paint this time more than he ever has in the past. He used his entire plate of paint and part of Paige's paint. He would put both hands in the paint, rub them all over the page, and go right back for more smiling the entire time. Paige wasn't really in the mood she wanted down to go play. It was a fun mess!

We tried washable markers recently too and they seemed to like it. Paige really took to the markers and immediately understood what she was doing. Ethan has more fun with finger paint than markers. He likes to eat the markers! After they finished their coloring Ethan ripped his paper and decided to taste it. I think we need to invest in a Aquadoodle so I don't have to prepare and clean up after "Art" time.

Of course Paige was done by the time I got the camera ready.

Ducky Ducky

About a week and half ago Ethan was digging under the bathroom sink while I was getting ready for their bath. While on his little adventure he discovered the big yellow rubber duck that I used for decoration at their first birthday party. The duck is too large to get into the bath tub with them both so it took up residence under the sink. Ethan has officially fell in love with this big rubber ducky! He has carried it around with him for over a week now and he gets excited when he sees it. He threw a fit the other day and I had to set ducky up on the kitchen counter next to him while he ate dinner. Too cute!

Another addition...

I have yet to formally announce that my brother, John Mark and Wendy are expecting another baby!!! Yes, it is only ONE baby that was our first question too. The new little one is due on March 20th which is Jake and Abby's birthday. Can you believe it! Even if the new baby is within one week of their due date then all three of my nieces and nephews will have been born in the same week! Our family story just keeps getting better and better. We are such a special family and we are all so excited and anxious waiting for our new addition...

CONGRATS AGAIN TO WENDY AND JOHN MARK!!! WE LOVE YOU GUYS!

Plus one!!!

Suckered Again

I had planned on giving Dallas' parents copies of the pictures we had taken of all four cousins for Grandparents Day gifts; however, I was hoping to find a good picture of just Ethan and Paige for them as well. I tried to find one in the recent photos I had or crop one of the two of them but nothing was working the way I wanted it to. I decided that I would take the kids Friday after work to the new Portrait Innovations in Arlington for one photo of them together. They have a running special of $9.99 for 10 sheets of one pose. Perfect! We hadn't had professional pictures taken since before their 1st birthday and it would give me a chance to see how the studio in Arlington is ran.

When we arrived there was nobody there but us and the employees. I was thrilled with this considering I had brought them by myself and was a little worried about controlling them. This time it was Ethan who was not in the mood for pictures. He cried every time someone looked at him or spoke to him. He was hiding behind me and screaming his head off. I pulled out the books that I had brought for them to look at while I picked the pictures I wanted to purchase. Thank God for books! I did not intend for the books to be in the pictures but since they love books with a passion it made sense. He was soon over his 'stranger danger' and was back to his smiley self.

The kids soon warmed up a little too much and felt free to run crazy throughout the entire place. I told the guy I only wanted one pose of them together but damn him he kept taking amazing pictures. Ethan and Paige both found a big bear that they loved and it soon became our centerpiece.

Ethan especially loved the bear and kept going back to sit in it's lap. Too Cute!

Paige found a rocking chair and thought that was really cool. She was being silly rocking back and forth with her feet kicking and it ended up being one of the best pictures of her I have ever seen.

Safe to say I had to eventually strap the kids down in the stroller and hand feed them puffs to finish picking all the pictures. I just couldn't decide between a couple of them and I ended up spending way more than $9.99. SUCKERED AGAIN! Dallas knew that I would not be able to leave that place with only one pose so he wasn't surprised when I called him with the news. He actually was driving home and decided to come save me. He pulled up and helped me load the kids up and head home.

I was so very impressed with the Portrait Innovations in Arlington! It is very new, nice, and clean. It has a great design with many props for pictures of all occasions. The young people working there were very helpful with chasing down kids, shutting doors, and retrieving dropped items such as books, sippy cups, and puffs. They were all super star employees that day and I think I even helped stop over population. I guarantee our visit was a form of birth control on that day by the look on some of their faces! Now that is...PRICELESS!

*These are only the six we purchased prints of. I also have the cd and will add some that didn't make the cut but are still extremely cute.*

Celebration Sunday

Sunday was a day of celebration... my birthday, grandparents day, and the first Dallas Cowboys game of the season! We started the day by sleeping in thanks to my mom. We spent the rest of the morning playing with the kids and laying around being lazy. What a perfect way to spend a Sunday morning!

Mom headed out to work at the school around noon and Linda and Michael came over about an hour later. I needed to run to Cheyenne's house and get my phone charger that we had left the night before. Dallas and I were down to one phone during the last week because he lost his and mine fell apart. We were left with him using his work phone as little as possible and me using an old phone of his we still had. I wondered why he had quit using it but I found out very quickly when it shut off in the middle of a phone call. It shuts off for no apparent reason whenever it feels the need and it is rather annoying to say the least!

I didn't want to miss Linda and Michael arriving because I had their Grandparents Day presents laid out on the kitchen counter and I wanted to see their reaction. Wendy my sister-in-law had a great idea to get all the twins together for a picture for Grandparents Day. About a month ago we met at Portrait Innovations in Plano for the photo shoot. We were of course late that morning and I even got a speeding ticket. Damn it! Even the cute kids in the backseat weren't enough to get me out of going 78 in a 60 on I-20. The cop even lowered the speed to 74 on the ticket so I wouldn't have to pay more so I guess the kids helped a little. It is absolutely ridiculous that a 6 lane interstate has a posted speed of 60 mph but that is another blog completely!

John Mark and Wendy had arrived ahead of time and by the time we arrived it was almost our turn which worked out well for us. Paige cried and ran the first few attempts at our group photo. I started to panic. What if we had drove all this way and we couldn't get one picture because Paige wasn't in the mood. Thankfully she got over it and we got some very cute pictures. Little Ethan was just an angel the entire time. He sat in his same spot smiling and making faces for the camera. Paige and Abby were everywhere and Jake was cute as he could be with his tongue stuck out. This was the first attempt at group pictures since the kids have all become so active and it was so worth it. Thanks for coordinating everything Aunt Wendy. You are awesome!
They were not sure at first...
Paige wanted to go swimming.

Notice closely the stuffed puppy flying through the air trying to keep Miss Abby from running out of the picture. Ha!
Notice in the next shot the puppy worked and Abby has stopped dead in her tracks to look at it. Now Ethan has turned around to see what just hit him in the butt.

Lets just say we took our puppy to the beach with us.

Look at my little man smile, Aw! Go Abby, Go! Isn't she cute!

We had a relaxing evening. Linda and Michael visited for a few hours and brought me a wonderful rolling collapsible cart for my birthday. You have no idea how much I will use that thing simply to get the kids stuff from one place to another. I plan on leaving it folded in the back of my car. Thank you so much! I also got a few gift card for dinner and shopping from other friends and family. Thank you so much everyone! I really appreciate everything!

FOUR OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BABIES ALIVE!!!

PS*The Cowboys won their season opener!