"MAY"HEM

Here is May and the beginning of June in a nutshell......hold onto your seats folks......

Friday before Mother's Day, Dad went into the hospital where he remained for a week with diverticulitis and a perforated colon.  I battled bronchitis and didn't get to even visit my Dad.  My sister also went to the hospital when she passed out while getting her haircut. I missed two days of work due to illness then an EF2 tornado hit our neighborhood....scary yet somewhat humorous post with pics will be up soon.  No power for about a day!  Dad and Sister got out of the hospital then I went to the ER because........I could NOT breath like thought I was going to die can't breath.  Now if that doesn't freak you out what will.  So Dad went to the cardiologist the following week to hear "Everything looks good.  There is one area of the heart that is not getting enough blood but I can give you a medication for that."  Ok things looking up right!

WRONG!

Dad started the new medication which apparently was supposed to start gradually even though this was not the directions from the cardiologist!  This made his blood pressure plummet and sent him to the hospital once again on Isaiah's birthday.  The same day Avani got second degree burns on her thigh and also went to the hospital.  My sister also went back to the hospital.  All three are out of the hospital for a few days.  My sister goes back into the hospital and has her gallbladder removed.  This was supposed to be the end of all the drama since May was finally over.

So we thought......then June rolled in!

Isaiah had to have oral surgery on June 1st.  A few days later Dad went to his primary care doctor for a routine visit BUT got sent straight to the hospital yet again to have a heart cath.  A day later the heart cath revealed a 90% blockage and they placed a 2nd stint.  I guess it is time for a new cardiologist since he totally missed the 90% blockage at Dad's appointment the month before and said, "Everything looks good!" 

Last but definitely NOT least...

I go to Urgent Care because I got bit by a brown recluse....more on that later too...but to ease your fears my leg did not rot off!  Then nephew Logan goes to the ER twice in two days.  Then Avani damages a previous break in her wrist at my boys' birthday party (more on that one too!) and goes to the ER.  I am shooting for a peaceful July and starting it out with a mini vacation!  That should do the trick!

We don't plan on seeing the inside of the 4 hospitals and 2 urgent cares the family frequented anytime soon....although I guess we didn't plan any of those visits to begin with!!

END OF SCHOOL PICNIC

I went to a picnic with over 500 children!!

Just the idea made me think what you are probably thinking.....

HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND??

I took Isaiah along for Elijah's end of school all school picnic. We took McD's to Elijah. Elijah didn't seem too interested in sitting with me at the picnic so I actually ate with some of the other abandoned Mothers!! I took Zay knowing some of his little friends were going to be there also. Zay ran off and when I went to find him I found this:

Elijah was leading Isaiah around the playground.

I thought I was going to cry!

I know they are VERY close but I also know that they have been fighting like crazy lately so this image warmed my heart. This is the best shot that I got since they were moving and I was trying to get closer. The picture I wanted didn't turn out but they were walking with Elijah's arm around Zay's shoulder and Zay's arm around Elijah's waist. It would've been an awesome pic but alas most of them were not in focus! ugh! I told Elijah I would keep an eye on Zay since this was the last time he would see some of his friends for a few months. He would run off and play then always come back to play with Zay who was happy as a clam! Aw they really do love each other!!

We were there for about two hours. It was cloudy but a very nice day ~ not too hot, good gusts of wind and yet sunny enough for ME TO GET SUNBURNT!! Ah the joys of being caucasian!!

It was really hard to get pics of Elijah with his friends' since they were among the over 500 children running wild but I did manage to get ONE..

I really had a great time but of course that could be b/c I had actual adult conversation!! I love talking with the other Moms!! Since they weren't doing any actual learning this day I checked Elijah and Avani out of school when I left then took the three of them to the park to play until it was time to pick Tez up from school. They loved this idea!

Avani and Elijah with their "The Thinker" fire power impression from Night at the Museum 2!




Elijah, Avani and Isaiah ~ aren't they a cute bunch!!

Avani ended up spending the night that night.....

.....how do I get myself into these things!!

TOP SECRET AGENTS

At the beginning of last week, I walked into the kitchen to see Hubs, Elijah and Avani rummaging through the kitchen cabinet. When asked what they were looking for, I got a quick "NOTHING!" Elijah then said, "Mom whatever we are looking for has absolutely nothing to do with Mother's Day if that is what you are thinking!" I responded with, "Ok secret agent man!"

A little while later Avani comes to me asking how to make a cake. I said with all my Betty Crocker skills, "You buy a cake mix and read the directions!"

Later I found a list written by Avani and Elijah which read:

Buy cake mix

Follow directions

probably need eggs

maybe some milk

some kind of oil ~ Mommy said so

Other stuff listed on box

decorations

I thought it was adorable!

A few days later I would catch them in their top secret moments to which again I would be told, "Whatever we are talking about has nothing to do with Mother's Day but we can't talk to YOU about it!" Sure!! Then Chai calls saying Avani has been acting weird and saying that her and Elijah are on a top secret mission as a surprise for her and I.

Friday after school Hubs took the boys to get the flowers which at the time I did not know about other than they had been on a separate "mission" and it was TOP SECRET. Isaiah thought this was so cool!

Saturday evening Avani called to talk to Elijah and plans were made. Once everyone was home that evening I reminded Martez about the "cake" mission. He called Avani and detailed the mission. He took them to Wally World where they picked out a cake for each of us then bought us both the same card since "we are so much alike".

Yes I knew they were getting a cake for us!

Yes I had to remind Hubs!

BUT

I don't care because seeing the joy on their faces was worth every bit!

Letting them think we were totally shocked at their ability to complete the "top secret mission" including hiding the cakes and cards until the early morning when they could no longer contain themselves and woke us up even though we both wanted to sleep in was WORTH EVERY SECOND. Isaiah reacted with tears and didn't want me to have the flowers b/c they were a secret! He didn't totally get the whole "she can know now" part and was so upset! He quickly changed emotions since he got to eat in my bed for breakfast!

I love these top secret agents and I love that they are all so close!

A THOUSAND WORDS THURSDAY: BUBBLES

My friends' girls are probably the closest I will get to having my own little girl now that my nieces are all grown up. I oblige by letting them come over whenever they want. This week I got to watch America's Next Top Model with a girlie girl and I must say it was a lot more fun that way! Recently Avani was over blowing bubbles and you know I love bubble pictures so I could not resist my urge! Here's my girl:

For more ATWT posts go Jen at Cheaper than Therapy by clicking the image below

BAD CASE OF PINK EYE IN A BOTTLE OF PEPTO BISMOL??

So yesterday I went over to paint Avani's room ~ pink!!

First we had to sort and purge through Avani's belongings while she was gone!!

I was excited about pink!

I've never painted pink before!

Boys aren't too keen on pink walls!

My helpers never showed up!

The paint went on really light so it was hard to tell if there were any white spots left that is until it dried.

While rolling paint onto the wall a GIANT glob of pink paint flew into my eye.

Not being able to see my own eye or how large the glob was I brilliantly decided to wipe the glob away with my already paint covered hands.

Brilliant I tell you!

Sometimes I just scare myself with my own intelligence or lack there of..!

I then can NOT see so I go into the bathroom.

My entire top lid, lashes, contact, white of my eye, lower lashes and under the eye were..........PINK!!

It took forever to get it all out: remove the contact, clean the contact and getting the paint out of all the little creases in the lash line was FUN for sure!!

Painting resumes then I start to feel like I am trapped inside a GIANT bottle of pepto bismol!

Seriously!

Hmmm.....hope this room turns out okay when completed!

I painted the room all by myself in about 4 hours!

This was much faster than Addison's nursery that Avani helped me paint!

Note to parents: painting rooms will always be faster without a child underfoot and helping!!

Pictures should be up hopefully on Tues night when I go over to finish setting up the room!

ADDISON IS HERE!!!

5am came pretty darn fast this morning but well worth it. My very close friend Chaitra had her 2nd daughter today. Addison Jewel came into this big bright world at 7:44am weighing in at 7lbs 4oz and 20in long!! A beautiful FAIR complected, raven haired (she is a couple of weeks early and pretty hairy - check out her forehead - lol - don't worry baby it will fall out!) knockout greeted the world with grace and a calm that only a baby knows! I am in love with her as I am with any baby I meet and the "urge" welled up inside!! (I swear if humans had the same 16 days gestation period as a hamster I would definitely have a dozen well maybe a couple more unless they were the size of hamsters! lol) UNTIL I saw Chaitra that is! She came out of the c-section that I tried oh so hard to talk her out of as itchy, dizzy and nauseous as can be. Addy had LOTS of fluid on her lungs and they were sticking tubes up her nose and down her throat trying to suck it out. They gave her oxygen then let her be hoping she could work it out on her own. They then suctioned her again and said if the fluid was not gone within 6 hours she would need to be transferred to another hospital. I really didn't want to tell this to Chaitra but she knew something was wrong b/c they would not bring her to the room and she really wanted to see her. This news was troubling at best knowing she wouldn't be able to transfer with Addy so we prayed, hoped and watched her new little angel like only Mother's can. Then they decided to give her a bath hoping it would upset the sleeping wonder enough to really cry and clear her lungs. No luck there.....she was calm as can be! Finally they said her lungs were getting better but her breathing was too labored and fast so they could not take her out of the nursery til her breathes per minute dropped to 60. That took awhile then they couldn't keep her temp up so they baked her for quite awhile until she was good and toasty. I feared a baby that fair complected would burn! lol During all of the action, baking and sleeping the nurses allowed each of us to go in two by two since Addison was the only baby in the nursery to touch, talk and take pics of her. JUST SO HAPPENS I had my camera so I took a few million pics!! Imagine that huh! Four and a half hours later they brought the bundle to the room. Chaitra held her for about 2 minutes then said someone take her NOW then puked and puked then yep she puked some more. Oh the joys of motherhood! I think she was wishing she had listened to my NO c-section rants!! I left to get FOOD since my belly was growling, picked up Zay, went to the football office, signed up for bball where I was talked into coaching with my hubby, met another football Mom to order the Coaches' gifts then I came home to try to catch some zzzz's before taking the boys to see Baby Addy and "Saytra" as Zay says her name. Operative word here being TRY!! I have such a pounding headache that I hoped was caused by waiting too long to eat but after eating I think maybe I am overtired. Let you all know when I decide!! Until then here is Addison in her blogger debut:

Sick I know, but I think babies are so cute when they cry!! I do have one exception ~ Isaiah wasn't so cute since he had colic and he cried ALL the time...NOT so cute at the time! I think this is the only time she cried all day.

This is how she slept while basking under the warmer!

I took this one with my camera phone so it looks kind of funky; however, this is one of my favorite pictures of the day. How cute is that?!! Lorraine and I were trying to wake her up so she would cry and clear out her lungs to go see Mommy but she did not budge except for this booboo lip...I am so in love with this girl!

I HATE feet but I LOVE LOVE LOVE baby feet!! Perfection!

I don't know who was more anxious to hold Addy....her mom.....

OR her big sister, Avani!!

PRINCESS FOR A DAY

Thursday was Avani's 7th birthday party at Pump It Up. It seems like just yesterday Chaitra and I were pregnant. I wasn't very happy with her that her pregnancy ended sooner than me and I still had 3 months of swollen feet left but oh well. Avani is a BEAUTIFUL, sweet and kind little girl and I love her to death. I actually get to sing the girly songs in the car when she rides with us in the morning. You know the girlie songs - the ballads that the boys aren't so keen on and you just want another girl to sing with you!! Well she's that girl for me! Love ya baby girl and stop growing so fast, you are almost as tall as me....not kidding guys! I don't have very many good pics since Pump It Up party pics never work out for me no matter what I try!

DENIS THE MENACE & THE TRIP TO THE ZOO

Last Thursday I took the day off to chaperone Elijah's kindergarten field trip to the Tulsa Zoo; however, the field trip was cancelled right before we were supposed to leave because of the weather forecast. The kids were not happy and boy did I pity the teachers who had to listen to the whining ALL day! So they rescheduled the trip for today. With such short notice and so many parents were unable to take another day off of work after taking off Thursday, the chaperone list plummeted which meant those of us going would be responsible for more kids. Chaitra was unable to go on Monday and even though Avani isn't in the same class as Elijah she had to walk with me because she is allergic to everything on Earth and I already know about her epipen and breathing problems so Chaitra requestedAvani to walk with me. Sure I said and when I went to the nurses office to get the epipen before we left I did ask her about any unusual signs that I would need to use the pen because I am so used to her telling us when something is wrong but I thought I better find out what to look for in case she couldn't communicate. She said first call 911 because the epipen relief is only temporary so she will still need help. Dumb idea - it made me an absolute nervous wreck the entire day! When we pull up to the Zoo with our three BA buses I see about twenty other buses and realize there is going to be a ton of kids here. Ok so I was assigned to Elijah, Denis and Avani then I asked if I could have another girl so Avani wouldn't feel so out of place with the boys. Then they gave me Sarah and Paige because they are friends with Vani - Ok!


Well everything started out good then Denis began....."I'm hungry buy me food, I'm thirsty buy me a drink, I want to ride the train why can't we ride the train..." I didn't think he would ever stop. We were asked not to spend any money on the kids and that was a pain in the butt to explain every two seconds. The kid kept running off and driving me nuts because then I would have to drag four other kids around to find him. I stayed nice and calm until we lost him after the rainforest then I drug them all back in to find him and didn't find him but found two other stragglers who couldn't find their chaperone so I told them to stay with me. As soon as I get outside I see his little yellow-shorted-self far away with another group so I just yelled for him. The chaperones turned around and said hey you have to of our kids and I said yep and you have one of mine. They said "are you afraid of losing your kid?" I replied, "I am not worried about losing my child because he doesn't wander off every two seconds. I am more worried about losing another mother's child and having to explain it to her. But obviously that doesn't seem to bother you guys!" It just frustrated me that they didn't even notice they had a kid who wasn't theirs and were missing two of their own. Number 1 reason why I just prefer to chaperone my own kid. Especially on a day as full as this one....I have never seen this many kids at the zoo ever you would think it was THE ONLY day for zoo field trips!! I also realized I was the only one with 5 kids everyone else has no more than 2 even the teachers and I have 5 with one who has medical issues how smart is that!!! By now we are half way through the zoo and the entire time I am trying to make poor Avani stay within epipen stabbing distance and checking for labored breathing, swollen face or neck, swollen tongue, disorientation, slurred speech, redness, wheezing and the list goes on and on!!!! This is when I started to panic.........what if I have to use the pen and call 911 first, do I just tell them I need help at the brown bear cage at the Tulsa Zoo....why didn't I get the number to the zoo office in case there was an emergency they could pick us up.....how will I carry her running all the way to the front screaming and expect all the others to keep up (because I am SO fast you know especially carrying a very tall heavy 6 yr old)....I would just have to tell Elijah to stay with mommy and tell the others to either keep up or wait there for another chaperone to come along.....why me, why am I the one with five kids. In my moment of panic I hear kids screaming, I rejoined the real world to see 4 scared kids running towards me (the look on Vani's face was priceless) and Denis throwing rocks at the ostrich who now is running, flapping and pecking through the wire. Nice! Again why me!! At this point I am thinking I always thought I loved kids but now besides a select few I have decided I mainly just love my kids! Just kidding! It is at times like this that I realize and appreciate how good my children can be at times! Well I lost Denis a few more times...WAIT...I didn't lose him I just needed a leash for him since he kept running off like a rabid dog! All in all the day was good. It was more fun outside of the zoo watching all the boys play hide and seek while the girls sat quietly glistening with sweat waiting for the buses. I must say the bus ride home was STINKY but peaceful since it was full of mostly napping kindergarteners! I also must say I am glad I get to do things like this with my kids because my parents weren't active in our school and athletic lives and I have vowed: I WILL BE INVOLVED!

He just loves animals!