So I have a lot of updates to catch up on. Let's get started shall we? (By the way, I'm really not digging this new setup Blogger has going on here. They changed everything! Can we all say, "Timeline"?? I can only learn one new thing at a time, I'm getting old!)
Cailin and I attended a welcome shower for baby Mark and had lots of fun. Both boys and girls were invited, and I think that's a wonderful way to welcome a baby to the world. I made the monkey themed cakes - and there's a bit of the diaper cake I also made in the corner here:
The man of the hour himself! Baby Mark is doing really well and getting bigger!
The girls had a great time ingesting copious amounts of sugar:
Then they got really crazy and ran around the house like monkeys on speed. It was hilarious. Liv proceeded to put herself to bed at 7:30-ish when she had enough. I think Cailin stayed up past 10pm.
Then there were birthdays! Happy 75th birthday to GG! Wow, what a milestone year! Wishing you all the best this year and many more!
My friend Cassie turned 25 on the same day. Mega milestone birthdays this year.
We would also like to wish Uncle Duster a great big happy 30th birthday. No worries, 30 isn't so bad. Now 31 on the other hand.... Gah.
For GG's birthday, I spent a good portion of the day readying, wrangling and rodeo-ing my children into the Jeep for Carter's long awaited pediatrician appointment. I had a feeling it was going to be a long wait so I bribed Cailin with fries and chicken nuggets. She got dressed and in the Jeep so fast it made my head spin. So she is completely capable of moving quickly when we're going somewhere. Who knew?
It turns out it wasn't that long a wait at the doctor's office. Cailin had her brown paper bag of certain deep-fried doom and was as cheerful as could be. Poor Carter had been rousted out of bed and was a little out of sorts but smiley enough.
The doctor was wonderful. He didn't rush and he addressed all of my concerns. Carter's flat spot on his head is nothing to be concerned about. We will be making a trip to the orthopedic place at some point, but it is very doubtful he will "qualify" for a helmet. His head will be completely normal in a year or so, and it's already rounding out. That's a big relief! Still, to be safe Carter is getting a head x-ray as well. (Here's the kids playing in the crib, you can see Carter's flat spot:)
Carter is a very relaxed and laid back baby. But maybe a bit too relaxed because he doesn't like to stand up or use his legs much (other than to splash in the tub of course). We think it's part of his charm that he's so floppy. The doctor noticed right away and we'll be starting some physio to get him using his legs more. I'll be learning some exercises to help him build his lower motor function up. (Since then we've been really working on making him stand and he's getting better.) Again, to be safe he's getting a spinal x-ray done to make sure everything is good there. Annnnnd they want me to get his blood work done too. I'm not looking forward to that.
The whole time we were in there, Cailin tried to get the doctor to look in her ears and throat. He wasn't quite sure what she was trying to accomplish there, but he was very kind and spoke to her a lot. She settled for climbing on his desk and securing his squeaky froggie toy in my purse. She told me, "I'm taking that Kermit home! I put him in your purse and zipped it up!" The doctor very kindly asked for it back and she relented. Then soiled herself. Ah, kids.
It must have been medical mayhem week in our neck of the universe:
I got to go to the dentist - and made it through the entire appointment without wishing ill fortune on anyone in my immediate vicinity. Except for one issue - "Oh my, you must have hormonal issues, look at those gums!", I got a clean bill of health. Er, teeth. (Hormonal issue coming up.)
I took Cailin in to get her blood drawn for her iron and sugar level checks. She was a trooper in the waiting area, and was one tough cookie when they gave her the "pokey". Of course she got a horrible bruise and there were a few tears but she did excellent. Until it came time to remove the bandaid. It popped right off in the tub and she was irritated that it wasn't still on her. I showed her where my bandaid had fallen off in the shower (I got thyroid checks done again). That made her feel better. Of course disaster struck when she told Nana that "Mommy farted in the shower this morning" when she really meant to say "Mommy's [bandaid] fell off in the shower this morning". I suppose this is a good time to say her blood work was completely normal. Heh.
At any rate, I paid a visit to our regular doctor's office, made an appointment for the following week and got my blood work done too. I couldn't bring myself to get Carter a "pokey" too, so he still needs his blood work and x-rays done.
Which brings us back to that darn old pesky thyroid/parathyroid stuff. I managed to get in and do the radioactive isotope injection CT scan/x-ray thingy for my pesky parathyroid. I got to see some of the results on-screen right away and it was super cool! I could see my shoulders, ribs, spine and skull. The injection they gave me lights up the heart too, so I got to see my heart glowing gold on the monitor. The results came back normal and I get to repeat the scan in October. The tumor or nodule is still present, but not causing any issues at this time, ie - it's not "hot".
Soon after doing the scan I realized I was feeling really good. I was no longer shaky, over-excited or hyper feeling. I didn't feel antsy-in-my-pantsy anymore. I didn't feel overly irritable with the entire world. And I wasn't hot all the time. Then my energy was all but completely gone. I was sleeping much better than I have been previously. My back suddenly flared up again and started to hurt for the first time in a long while. Then I noticed I had gained over 15lbs in the course of ten days. Now, logic tells you something may not be quite right there with all this going on. But it wasn't until I was in bed one night shivering under three heavy blankets that it hit me - my thyroid level is no longer high. I felt ripped off. I knew exactly what was going to happen next.
I went in for my lab results and bingo - my thyroid is low. Yay, me. So our doctor has hopes that it might steady itself out yet, but we're not waiting for that to happen. I'm on the lowest dosage of synthetic thyroid hormone possible for the next 30 days. Then we'll do more blood work and see if we need to adjust the dosage. Three days in and I can feel some of the antsy-in-my-pantsy coming back. I'd like to get back to that place where I'm not hyper and shaky, but not bone-tired exhausted. Is that too much to ask?
Also, I got an iPhone, heard the song "Sexy and I Know It" in its entirety for the first time, and something else happened that was ground breaking (but I can't remember what for the life of me) ALL IN ONE DAY. I'd say that was a violent shove forward to at least the year 2011. I'm almost current now.
Anyway, how about some cute baby pictures? Carter loves Cheerios a lot. That would be the ones with nuts and honey on them, cuz hey? Why wouldn't we feed our 9 month old nuts and honey before he's 3? He also found out how much he likes peanut butter cereal. Again with the nuts before he's 3. Eating Cheerios is serious business:
Cailin recently spent the week at Nana and Papa's house with her cousins Grace and Odin. She had a blast playing with them. GG and Papa Ray also came up for the week and we had a great visit. I also turned 31 quietly in there somewhere. Carter and I spent some time together by ourselves and he helped me sort out hats for an upcoming auction:
I love his little face! He is really the most happy and giggly baby ever. I'm enjoying him every single day. Cailin is getting more vocal and eloquent every day. She talks so much now and has quite the sense of humor. Potty training is on and off - her choice of course. Somedays she puts herself in underwears and goes the whole day without a pullup. Other days she changes her own pullups. Yet other days, you just don't want to know. I'm signing her up for Kindergym next week so she better be trained by September. (That would be preschool with 45 minutes of gymnastics and 45 minutes of classroom twice a week).
I'm sure there's a lot more to tell, but it's getting late and I spent all day in the kitchen making this cake for Liv's birthday party tomorrow:
Cailin ate her weight in icing and fondant so I'm sure she'll wake up with a terrible sugar hangover tomorrow. Heh.
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