Tuesday at our humble abode

Yes, it is Tuesday again! The weeks are just flying by for us. I can't believe that next week is Arlington's 5th birthday. It was just Christmas - wasn't it? Can it really be February already?

The weekend was pretty uneventful. We didn't do much. We went to church on Sunday - we had to teach Sunday school. Well, some of us went. Arlington woke up Sunday morning with a fever, sore throat and ear ache. So she and Mat stayed home and I took the babies with me to church. Mat took Arlington to urgent care because she is prone to ear infections. but her ear and throat were just red - no infection. So she just laid around on the couch all day and just relaxed. The fever responded to medication, but would keep coming back once it wore off. But by Monday afternoon, she was all better. I kept her home from school yesterday but she was well enough to go back today.

Today was Cainan's follow up appointment with the surgeon. It was a long morning. We had to leave the house at 7:30am so that we wouldn't have to sit in traffic. But, no good - we had to sit in it anyway. Mat took Arlington to school, but I took both babies with me to the appointment. We got to the doctor's at 9:10, and our appointment was 9:20. Now, I am used to these appointments and always go with enough food as if we are staying for three days because, well, we basically are. We didn't get seen until 10:50. How ridiculous is that? 1 1/2 hour wait for an appointment? Why even have an appointment if you are NEVER going to be seen anywhere near your appointment time. This is about my 30th time in this office, and it is ALWAYS the same. One time I got out of there within 1 hour, and I thought it was going to snow. And of course, we saw the doctor for about 5 minutes, so VERY worth the wait. (not) Anyway, the doctor was pleased with his lip and it seems that the lip massages are working well. We scheduled his surgery for March 20th. This will be his lip and nose revision - to repair everything that had to be undone when he got the infection last fall. The surgery will be about 1 1/2 hours and he will be in the hospital 1-2 days. Fun times. We are looking at one definite overnight, possibly two. I am hoping for one, and - as always - told the surgeon so. He finds me amusing. But since we know what antibiotics Cainan needs to be on to keep him infection free, I do not see why he would need more than 24 hours of IV and then can be switched to oral meds. So I spoke my peace and hope that all goes smoothly. That boy better not get a fever! ha. Anyway, he will have nose plugs and arm braces for two weeks, plus the liquid diet - I am having flashbacks. But this SHOULD be his last surgery until he is 5 years old thank goodness, so at least we are looking at a LONG break. Can't beat that!

The rest of this week is uneventful! Mat's birthday is Thursday and we are thinking of going to the beach on Saturday. A nice relaxing week, right? What am I saying? I have three kids!

Arlington is doing well. She was quiet and calm while she was sick, which is so unusual for her. It was nice to know what she was up to for one whole day - which was sitting on the couch! Usually she is very busy and all over the house. But I am glad she is feeling better. She is still doing great in school and with her words here at home. Today she spent the whole day at school since I had Cainan's appointment and I think she was glad to have the afternoon with her friends. She likes to eat lunch with them and play outside an extra time - both of which she misses by coming home with me after pre-K is over at 11:30. It is an extra cost for her to stay for the afternoon, so she doesn't get to do it often. That got us talking about Kindergarten next year. I was telling her that she will be staying all day next year and their won't be any naps. I told her she would have school, then lunch and recess, and then more fun school in the afternoon. She liked the lunch and recess part, but then asked if I would come and pick her up after that - no school in the afternoon. I told her nice try, but it doesn't work like that. She was not happy. But I do think that she will like it once she gets into it.
She also has been busy making puppets. We had some brown paper lunch bags and I showed her how to make a puppet with one. (mine was simple and boring). She thought that was cool and proceeded to make about 30 puppets. They are all very elaborate. She got out all of her art supplies and used feathers and eyes and beads and foil for the hair, and gave them bodies, etc. That girl is very artistic! Me? I drew eyes, a nose and a mouth and called it a day.

Cainan is doing well. I think he might be getting a little cold. He sounds congested in the morning and after naps. Let's hope it doesn't amount to anything else since he has his circumcision next week. He has been sneezing a lot, so we will see. He said his first two word sentence today. "bye mama". It was cute. Once he said it, he said it about 100 times in a row. And we are working on getting him to use a spoon. He is lazy about it and doesn't really want to hold the spoon tight enough to put food on it. But we are working on it. Cainan's wrist and hands are still very weak and it is going to take time for them to strengthen.

Finley is also doing well. Hopefully won't get a cold. When she gets sick, she gets really sick, so I hope she stays well. She said another three word sentence, "I don't know" and "sissy bad baby". She played a game yesterday with Mat. She would hide a ball and Mat would say, "where did it go?" She would say "I don't know", then pull it out and giggle. This went on for about 20 minutes- over and over. She LOVES comedy. She loves to be goofy and have other's be goofy for her. She is getting ready for her career in the circus. The "sissy bad baby" came when Arlington got in trouble. Arlington got in trouble and Finley said "sissy bad baby". Finley also says, "bye car", "bye mommy", bye sissy", bye to just about anything. And she said "pretty baby" I said to her "pretty baby" and Finley said "pretty baby - no - bad baby". Funny girl. She went with me to the appointment today. This was the first time I had to take both babies. She did pretty well. She hates long car rides, but hung in there as long as I kept her entertained and fed!

So that is our happenings. The pictures below are of Mat's impromtu opening of his birthday presents over the weekend. Arlington wasn't feeling well and this really cheered her up. So on Thursday we will just have cake and sing happy birthday. Please excuse the kids outfits - Arlington is in her "warmies" that she wears when she is sick. And Finley got her clothes stripped off while she ate a messy dinner!