Cast #1 - July 6th

July 6th...

So off on that Monday we head on over to the Ortho armed (ha- no pun intended!) with the x-rays from the hospital. Yep, she has fractured her humerus. On goes a lovely bright pink cast, and with a wave and a smile we are headed back home with a follow up on 3 weeks.

Oh, and at the same time we also get Aspen's pre-surgery registration for her tendon lengthening procedure on July 14th. For her hips. Make sure you are keeping track of the bones we are discussing. Did you know that there are more bones in an infant/toddler body then an adult?

You think you've been busy?....

Well, I say HA to that!

Welcome to the post series called "How many casts can you wear in 4 months?". A small informational grouping of references and tidbits that will make everyone educated about bones. And how easily they break. Grab a chilled beverage, some Frito's and enjoy.

Introductory...The Splint

Let the tale begin with joy, laughter and merriment on a fun filled Fourth of July. Hot dogs, swimming, the Grubbs, and some tasty ambrosia salad followed by fireworks were no match for the evil couple known as.........water + tile.

Throw in one running triplet and you have yourself an ER trip.

5 boys and 1 girl. Guess which one went?

Yep...Aspen.

3 hours later we were sent on our way with a beautiful $1 million splint, lovely photos of a fractured humerus, some Tylenol with codeine and a follow up with her Ortho on Monday. Not too serious, after all they said it was a small fracture, should heal quickly. Right???

Well it's about time....

I finally remembered my photobucket account info and fixed my background graphics. More fun and interesting things to follow :)

If I had a quarter...

for every single doctor and exam where Aspen's heart murmur was missed- I would be rich.

Mid May when we returned from San Diego, the trio got sick. Of course I immediately self diagnosed swine flu and took the to the doctor. My Ped is great-slightly odd and quirky, and aside from the one odd scarlet fever diagnosis, is pretty darn good.

So the fact that he caught a heart murmur that had never been mentioned before was something that caught us off guard. Sure, it slipped by the 5 previous visits to him, but hey, the 6th one was the charm. After all, why wouldn't it have been picked up by one of the NICU doctors who examined her every day for 3 months?

So yesterday, after waiting a month, we finally saw the cardiologist. He was amazed that it had never been picked up before, but quickly realized that the location made it almost impossible to see from the ultrasound (behind the breastbone), yet easily more noticeable from an auditory standpoint.

So he diagnosed her with a muscular Ventricular Septal Defect. Thankfully, it is a pin hole size, and he is optimistic that it should be completely closed in the next 2 years, avoiding any surgical intervention.

He also cleared her for her upcoming tendon lengthening surgery in mid July, since she has not gained the abduction results that the Ortho would like to see. He is concerned that the tightness could compromise the positioning of her hips. At least she will not be in a cast this time, but only a brace. Which is good, considering I just loaded up on tutus!

Aspen at dance class

No Gymboree at gym class???

I am an unprepared mother.

I signed the trio up for a "Ballet, Dance and Motion" class at a local rec center. Word on the street is that since they went to a lottery system for their highly recommended preschool program, it's a good idea to schmooze a little.

I can schmooze with the best of them.

So I enrolled them in this class. One, because it is on Saturdays, and Two, because, well, it was the only one in the time frame I needed. If it was Skeet Shooting Basics 101 from 11:30-12pm- they would have learned to have a damn good shot.

Imagine how I cringed when MY LITTLE GIRL was the only one not in a TUTU. "The Father" said she wouldn't need one since it wasn't strictly a ballet class, and besides, I was not putting the boys in tights. You will notice that Ryan is missing from the pictures. That is because he prefered to spend his class enrollment fee on crying and watching from the window.

So off I go to figure how to get twinkling lights on Aspen's new tutu- I must leave a lasting impression.

Aspen performing to world renowned "Squat and Twirl"

"What the heck has Mommy done to me?"

It's a SeaWorld birthday!

Considering that my "not in the least spoiled" children still have Christmas presents that have not been taken out of their boxes, the whole idea of gifts seemed unrealistic. So, after very little planning, we made reservations to go to San Diego. And for the 1st time in my life, I booked a non refundable hotel room.

And then that pesky swine flu hit. Damn those pigs.

However, after spending enough time researching and lingering on the CDC website that I am now an honorary employee- we went to San Diego anyway. I was armed with enough Purell and Lysol to sanitize a small third world country. I looked like Monk. I glared down anyone within a 12 foot radius who even dared to cough.

We still did have a good time, even though I managed to get sun poisoning. All the Purell in the world will not help you if you forget to put on sunscreen. My poor forehead is flaking and leaving little bits o' DNA everywhere.

Happy 3rd Birthday!

The trio turned 3 on Friday! Happy Birthday my sweet ones!

Big juicy...

boogers.

And who is the snot fisherman in the household you ask? None other then sweet, ladylike Aspen. Yep-shoves her THUMB up there like she is deep sea diving.

And she loves to share her new hobby with anyone. She even hoards them in the crib until she gets up then will politely hand them individually to you as a nasty slimy present.

She even handed one to her Ortho doctor the other day as he is examining her abduction progress (which looks like a tendon lengthening procedure is going to occur by the end of the year). He was less then amused. And this was after she already broke the "NPIP" rule (no pooping in public).

Is Miss Manners still alive? Does she do housecalls?

A marching we will go...

Yesterday we participated for the first time in the St. Patrick's Day parade in Henderson with LVMOMS. It was held on a street with the same inclination as Mt. Everest. Luckily, Don and Drew dropped Laura and I off with the kids at the top- or the buzzards may have started to swirl again.

It was a hoot of fun...and very random with participants...see for yourself!

The choo choo wagon was all pimped out...

as were the kids...

Aspen loves her St. Patty's Day tutu!

The choo choo wagon line-up

(see Cathy the parade crasher with her boys)

There were BIG horses...

and tiny horses...
oversized drunk leprechauns
(unfortunately I cut off the case of Budweiser they were carrying)

and wee little dauschunds

and a police car that was waaayyy lost..

so they sent in the Storm Troopers to retrieve it...

THE END!!!

Dominic's favorite song

It's quite catchy. Both Drew and I have been caught marching.....


Are you Scared? Join the Afraid Parade! from Kelsey Friday on Vimeo.

potty schmotty

Life is about choices. And in an effort to get these kids on the potty- they have choices. They can use the practical potty seat, the multipurpose potty chair/step stool, or for those times when you just feel like peeing on reptiles- the froggy potty.

What more could they want- a bidet?

The potty training process could quite possibly send me over the edge.

I've been violated...and misc crayon issues...

I'm a Facebook junkie. There, I said it, now the healing can begin.

So you can imagine my shock when I found out that someone hacked into my FB account today. My friend Kyle messages me and asks me if I am ok and if I am in London. Then I get a call from my friend Korina.

So I call Korina back and she proceeds to tell me that I messaged her saying that I was in London, was robbed on the way to my hotel and could she wire me $1300.00!!! Thankfully they knew this jiggidy-jig was a load of crap. This is because:

A: I have very smart friends
B: I hate to fly so London would be completely bizarre
C: Who solicits money via Facebook?
D. I have plenty of money coming my way thanks to the President of Nigeria I helped out with a little check cashing issue. See-I will have 1 million dollars as soon as the check clears!

(I'm sure that Michelle is reeling in laughter at my FB debacle)

oh, and Dominic decided to color the tile with a black crayon.
And Ryan ratted him out.
Definitely not a good CIA prospect.

Happy Valentine's Day...after

I would have posted this on Valentine's Day, but I was busy being pampered like a Hilton.

ah, yes, the dishwasher slapped me back to reality. This is one day of kiddie dishes. And they wonder why we have a water shortage in Vegas?

My Valentine card. When you go through a gallon of milk a day- this is the most logical place to put it for me to find it. Very clever Drew!

My attempt and being Martha Stewart. These are supposed to look like roses. They...well...don't.

Drew came home and made dinner- a wonderful Filet Mignon with bearnaise, herb roasted potatoes and tomato casserole (yes Ricci- your recipe + mozzarella).

We are going out to dinner tonight. We stopped going on Valentine's Day quite a few years ago after some unfortunate server tried to deliver my not quite so cooked steak that I swear bled all the way from the kitchen. Way too busy and way too packed and rushed. So we always go after Valentine's Day. And tomorrow is Spa Day!!!

oh dear....

this could take some therapeutic undoing.

Dominic, by comparison, was the last one to blossom in the vocabulary department. It is still sometimes difficult to understand what all of them say sometimes, but for the most part- it's decipherable. Well,except (quick offshoot story approaching.....

Drew bought the kids humidifiers for their rooms- a penguin and a frog. After all this is the desert, and we don't have a street named Sahara just for the heck of it. One day the penguin was sitting on the kitchen island and Ryan come running over and proceeds to tell me that "Daddy's peesnis felled down, Daddy's peesnis is BROKEN Mommy!"

hmmm...

So, after a quick call to Drew- I sat Ryan down and we practiced PENGUIN for about 30 minutes. I still might not risk a trip to SeaWorld anytime soon though.

ok- back on track. So Aspen and Ryan are the chatterboxes. However, Aspen cannot and has never been able to say Dominic, nor has Ryan. So from the moment Aspen could talk, she called him Maggot, which atleast has now morphed into Maggik. Ryan, being the repeater as he is, just went along and copied her.

And now Dominic can't even say his name- he calls himself Maggick. Ryan now just calls him Brudder.

hmmm....

umm, I've been busy?...

I know, I know- I'm a bad blogger. I've been very busy I swear.

After all, it takes alot of time to care for my tentuplets. Yep- popped out 10 kids last week. I figured since I had all these extra embryos just sitting in a freezer, why not use them up? I have nothing better to do except breed children. Take that Nadya Suleman you freaking TRAINWRECK!

I could go on and on but there are serious and less delusional things going on right now in my life.
I could say I have been saving the world, ending domestic hunger issues, or even doing laundry. But since Michelle busted me out for my Facebook addiction, I figured I better come clean.

Plus, I have been making Who-Hash.

I am utterly at a loss for new and refreshing food ideas. I have probably fed my kids gallons of mac and cheese- they seem to be indifferent to other food groups. It all just seems like the same old crap day in and day out.

Except today. I'm crafty.

Take 1 can of chicken and noodles, add in some ham, and peas and viola! Who-Hash delight!




They hated it.