Tooth fairy fired

My oldest daughter lost her 3rd or 4th tooth last week (yes, I've lost count already). She was, of course, quite excited and handed it to me to see.  Since it was still a bit bloody, I thought I would rinse it off carefully.  It took 3 seconds and I rinsed it right down the drain.  Needless to say, she was devastated so I spent the next half hour convincing her that the tooth fairy didn't need to see the tooth and could find it anywhere.  My daughter carefully wrote a note to the tooth fairy and placed it under her pillow.
The next morning, I came in from an early run and was greeted by my sobbing daughter.  "The tooth fairy didn't come!"  Oh man, she was right - the tooth fairy definitely forgot.  After much damage control, we convinced her that the tooth fairy couldn't see her note written in light green pen.  She rewrote the note in black marker and seemed to buy our story.
I went to work that night and received a text from my husband at 11 pm - "operation TF complete."  I had no idea what he was talking about.  Fortunately, he hadn't forgotten ... again.
Mom of the year ...

Adventures with Miralax and gastro

After everyone in our house was hit with the stomach bug (aka gastro) right after New Years, I was quick to celebrate when I thought we were out of the woods.  About a week later, our 5 year old daughter began complaining of belly pain.  Usually when she complains of belly pain, I fire up the Miralax because I am a firm believer that constipation in kids is the root of all evil.  I also realized that no one could confirm whether or not she had pooped since her bout with gastro so I doubled the dose and added a few other agents to assist.  She continued complaining of belly pain but still no poo so I started to wonder why my concoction wasn't working.  Perhaps, I had the wrong diagnosis?  I laid off on the constipation meds and stuck with good ol' Tylenol and Motrin for pain. She continued to complain of belly pain and woke up the next night crying, poor thing.  About an hour later, we heard her yell "I threw up and it's in my hair."  We trudged up the stairs to get everything cleaned up, dosed her with some zofran and went back to bed.  Less than an hour later, "Mom, I pooped and it's in my underwear."  Turns out it wasn't just the undies but the jammies, the floor, and the wall too.  I guess Miralax isn't the treatment of choice for gastro.
Mom of the year ...

Glory of God

In our first parent-teacher conference for our new kindergartener this year, we heard many wonderful things about our oldest  child.  Of course, it came as no surprise to me that our daughter's kindergarten teacher has discovered that in addition to her positive attributes, she has a bit of a sassy side.  A few times in school thus far, she has told her teacher "well, I already know about that."

In one of the first school chapels, the entire lower school was gathered with the principal speaking in  front of the group of students.  The principal told them that she was going to talk to them about the glory of God.  It was at that point our daughter spoke up loud enough for all to hear "I already know all about that!"  That's my girl.

Mom of the year ... 

Party Crasher

We were at a playground with friends recently enjoying the beautiful fall weather. There was a birthday party set up at the picnic tables nearby. I was checking in with my husband to make sure all the kids were accounted for when he pointed to our 3 year old son. He was wearing a birthday hat, sitting beside a random birthday girl and waiting patiently for cake. I promptly sent my husband over to collect our little party crasher.

Mom of the year  ...

Made in China

Our 9 month old 3rd child is into everything these days.  There have been countless near misses of me finding various items in his mouth but fortunately no major events.  I was on call recently and my husband was so proud of himself for taking all three children out to dinner ... all three children out to dinner.  Yes you read that correctly.  Anyways, he came home feeling like "dad of the year" until he found a "made in china" sticker in the baby's poopy diaper.

Let's just hope the sticker wasn't attached to anything when the baby ate it.  I reassured my husband that intestinal transit time isn't that quick and there was a good chance it happened on my watch.
Mom (and dad) of the year ...

Medical neglect

3 years ago today, we gave birth to a perfect baby boy.  Then the next day on our way out of the hospital, one of the Pediatric Cardiologist flagged us down in the hallway.  My husband was picking up the car when he told me our little baby had moderate aortic stenosis.  As I heard the words, I felt my own heart fall out of my body and my brain seemed to empty itself of all previous knowledge of congenital heart disease.  I looked the cardiologist straight in the eye (the same cardiologist I had worked with for almost 2 years taking care of infants with congenital heart disease) and asked "what does that mean?" It took him a second as I'm sure he was trying to figure out if I was serious or not and then he responded that our son would have to be followed closely and would likely need a procedure in the cath lab to open up his valve within the next few months.  We kept the diagnosis to ourselves at first, not wanting other peoples' questions and anxiety to add to our own stress.  But as time went by, he  continued to receive positive reports at all his visits.  And here we are 3 years later with a happy, healthy boy who can dribble circles around most kids his age.
I took him to the dentist recently and when the office staff asked me if the kids had any health problems, I responded "nope, they're fine - no health problems."  It took me a minute before I quickly yelled out the door ... "actually, he has a heart problem."  Her look was priceless.  I suppose I tend to minimize my own children's illnesses, but I'll take it as a blessing that it's not the first thing I think of when I think of my son.
Mom of the year ...  Now where did I put the baby's epi pen?

Halloween Preparation

Halloween is a time of year when many moms thrive.  So many opportunities to show the world how "pinteresting" you are - elaborate pumpkin carving and crafts, cute Halloween-themed snacks for preschool, coordinated costumes for the kids.  Well, as much as I love Halloween, I think I fall a little short of the "pinterest" standards.  We have a pumpkin carving party each year but haven't actually carved a pumpkin since we procreated.  We hit the pumpkin farms but not in cute coordinated pumpkin applique outfits.  And of course we love to go trick or treating, but I tend to either eat all the candy or throw it away.  Last year was the first year my kids became aware that they liked candy - up until then I had actually convinced them that they didn't like it (poor naive souls).  When we started talking about trick or treating this year, my now 4 1/2 year old daughter looked at me with a very serious face and asked "Mommy, will you save me at least one piece of my candy this year?"
"Yes, dear, I suppose I can spare at least one."
Mom of the year ...