does this sound braggy?

Bradie had her three year check up yesterday and ROCKED IT!  She was a studdette about all the little steps and didn't even cry for her shot...okay she shed some tears afterwards but I was SO proud!  She is a shade under 38 inches tall and weighs 31 pounds- 60th for height and weight...perfectly proportionate! 

Oh yes and then there's Beau.  He CLIMBED onto my aerobics steps!  I hear some strange cooing and go out to see him on his belly on the six inch step.  Yesterday pulled up two or three times on various objects, one of them being our bottom stair!! Um, is this early?  It sure as heck feels like it.  Kid's barely 7.5 months old!  

Marcus is doing better each day.  He has concluded that getting an apple removed from the barrel is far easier that wisdom teeth extraction.  Perhaps it is because cancer seems to allow you the choice and inspiration to be a hero throughout it all.  Darn that Lance and his yellow bracelets.  A little Zofran and you can eat M&M's!  

Sorry...I think I am tired or something.

Peace out.

For Erin and others

Please believe me when I say that I have been trying to blog all week.  But this week has proved to be a doozy!  On Monday afternoon, Marcus had his wisdom teeth removed.  He had them taken out by a dentist who specializes in extractions and was not put under for the procedure. Of course his teeth went out fighting.  Like a soap opera actress who is ten years past her prime but is part of show fabric, this one tooth had settled quite comfortably into Marcus's jaw...they cut into the artery in his jaw!  The dentist and the assistant could not stop the bleeding!  Nor could they find anyone close by to stop the bleeding.  The rest of the office had closed down and there's poor Marcus, all puffy and numb, bleeding like a reject from Little Shop of Horrors while the dentist and the office manager flipped through a PHONE BOOK looking for an oral surgeon.   They left messages with all their contacts but couldn't reach anyone.  At one point we decided to go down to Harborview (apparently they are good for mouth emergencies). 

 Luckily a surgeon in Mill Creek phoned us back and said to come down. Phew.  Well this dude fixed Marcus up and instructed him to then visit the ER and have blood work done to see if he had lost too much blood!  His assistant said she, in 18 years of experience, had never seen blood gush like that when they moved the gauze. 

So back up to Everett to the hospital! (It's 9pm by now!)*  Everything is fine with Marcus' blood but now his novocaine is fading FAST.**  He's getting the shakes now as his pain climbs up the charts to a seven or an eight :(  When he first talked with nurse he asked for drugs and she said "Is that why your here?"  I heard this later and was super fired up...no ma'am, he was going to bleed out through HIS MOUTH!!!  Give him some damn drugs!  Phew, I guess I'm still a little testy about this.

After waiting for "discharge paperwork" which is some sort of purgatory I'm sure, another nurse came with some medicine.  Let's stop and do some math...Marcus gets teeth pulled at 4pm.  At 10:30 pm he receives his first pain medication.... poor guy!

So since then our home has been under rotation of Percoset and frozen peas.  Marcus is definitely not one of those people that play basketball the day after their teeth come out, but we're all trying to take it in stride.

My dream and my New Year's resolution for our family: In 2009, NO MORE  HOSPITAL BRACELETS!

Other news:  Bradie turned three on Wednesday.  Here she is in her birthday dress with her chocolate cake.  It's the worst thing I've ever baked but she still loved it! (not quite sure what happened but it was super dry and crumbly, ugh)  What can I say? I love this girl.  She handed me a Lego phone the other day and said "Mommy, here you go, its Jesus"

The Beau Update:  Our son can push himself into a sitting position! He's delighted and I am relieved. Beau is taking about four or five crawl "steps" now before scooting the rest of the way to his desired location.  At his six month appointment he was almost 27 inches long and weighed 17# 5 ounces, for all you who like numbers.  His percentiles have continued to slide, but that happens when you weigh 10 pounds at birth due to a sugary uterus :)

Speaking of 10 pounds... I have lost that since August 26th!  I am thrilled and starting to enjoy shopping in my closet.  Now I just need to wean myself back ON to my wedding ring. 

* Christy and Troy had our kids, praise the Lord!  THANK YOU...we heart our schwenktastic friends.

** Marcus showed a high tolerance to ALL the measures he was given for the extraction: the sedative beforehand, the novacaine and the nitrous affected him only so so.

the latest

This is Bradie on Monday.  She spent the better part of the morning tossing her cookies :(.  Poor little thingy!  BUT...

WE POOP ON THE POTTY NOW!!!  Not one of those capital letters is exaggerated or unnecessary...its a freakin' big deal!  WOOT!  We are SO proud of our girl.  It is funny how I have used the flu as a catalyst in some parenting sticky spots before- Bradie was weaned during a bout with the flu at thirteen months and now all it took was a little diarrhea and voila, stool on the Stool. :)
Beauboy has been a crazy man lately!  He has one tooth and is working on two more.  In the process he sucked his upper lip so hard that he developed an big blister that turned into a pretty unsightly cold sore.  So added to the profuse drooling,  Beau's looking a bit ogre-ish right now.  And, as if the teething isn't enough, Beau is trying very hard to crawl!  He's doing the baby rock on all fours right now which is super cute.  Not so cute though is that for two nights in a row he has woken up and babbled for about an hour!  Last night he went from 9:45 to 10:45 just talking.   So mommy tensely listens waiting for the cry to crescendo but it never happens.   Then he likes to wake up at 4:30 am to start his day.  Oh, the joys.  I try not to do the math on the sleep I am getting because it might depress me.

Just a random Kyle shot here...he's totally "man" enough to rock the pink blankie.  I love this kid.  He likes me...sometimes.
Let's see, what else?  Ah yes, The Office starts up again tomorrow, supplying me with fresh quotes to geek out on.  My obsession with the Daily Plate is working- I have lost 8.5 pounds since August 26th!  Probably half of that is water of course, but the pre-pregnancy pants ain't lying!  Also motivating me is the specter of type 2 diabetes.   Having the disease during pregnancy WAY increases the likelihood hood of developing it later in life.  The shocker?  It hasn't been too terribly difficult.  I am eating pretty much whatever I want, but just less of it.  I am prioritizing things like ice cream and beer and peanut butter (three of my top faves!), having them once or twice a week instead of everyday (or until the six pack is empty or the carton has been scooped out!)  Just being aware of exactly what I eat seems to be the biggest key for me- I just didn't realize before that one beer with dinner for a few days REALLY adds up.

Phew! Off my soap box now, thank you for indulging me!

Dr. Sarah Tancredi is ALIVE!*

Happy Six Months Little Man! This isn't even a cheesy grin...he smiles like this ALL the time! 

Bradie's developed a tic that involves unconsciously tucking her shirt into her pants (but let's be real...its usually a skirt)  Here is a great shot of that as well as some feigned shyness.


Thanks for taking me to the Evergreen State Fair Grandma and Papa!

What else is new? Ah yes, first day of school for Marcus.  He walked in the door, took off his clothes and went to bed.  He gets pretty wiped the first week, so I expected it.  

I have discovered Facebook, finally.  Talk about nuts!  But very cool- there are folks from my DTS that I've been looking for for YEARS! So that's cool.  My other obsession is thedailyplate.com.  Its a calorie tracking device and food diary- it's pretty cool and I am stoked to be losing some baby weight finally.  No tricks just eating less and exercising more.  Imagine that, huh? Sorry I will now pull out my thesaurus and research other words for "cool".

Right now Marcus is watching 90210...WHATEVER!  I give it a few months at the most.

Bring Luke Perry back and then we'll talk ;)

*Fox's Prison Break has been redeemed for me!

today's cuteness level: DANGER!

First bites are avacado.  Yummy!  He's a little more noodly through the torso than Bradie , but he definitely can lean in and communicate MORE :)
I grew this Zinnia from seed!  It is still unfolding as you can see but what a satisfying feeling :)  I also have a white cosmos that should be opening soon too!
Summer may be 2/3 over but never too late for a new, warm weather do!  One of my favorite people, Christy, cut Bradie's hair for me.  She did a great job and I love the cut- it makes Bradie's bangs make more sense.

waddya think?

Here are some baby pictures to peruse.  Yes, I am aware that I need a scanner and a manicure, but don't be so judgy. :)

 

In order of birth we have.....

Marcus

Sara

Bradie Ann

The Beauberry. BeauBeau. Mr Beau. Bubba. Beaubert. Beaujamin

This last shot is blurry but the expression is perfectly him.  It's fun to compare and of course fun for grandmas :)

I can hardly believe how big Bradie is getting!  I even got a little misty eyed as I skimmed the MANY photos we've taken.  Poor Beau!  I am also convicted as I need to snap more shots of his edible little mug because he's quickly approaching that older infant vortex in which they change with dizzying speed.

Marcus is on Order of the Phoenix now  **lonely cricket sounds** 

Stay cool everyone!  :)