Friday, July 26, 2019

All Else May

Here's all the other random stuff we did in May - 

Seth tried broccoli! 


We took Seth in for an ultrasound of his kidneys. Can't remember if I ever posted about this, but he has hydronephrosis - excess fluid around his kidneys; has since before he was born. They did an ultrasound when he was about 2 months old, then again at 8 months. It's expected to resolve itself as he grows, but hasn't yet. Abigail and Cora got to come with Seth and me to the hospital for the ultrasound!


Seth continues to love his blanket-face sleep. This is his preferred blanket - from Uncle Reid and Aunt Jana!


This one time, I went to Walmart with Abigail and the Cheeto guy was there! She got a free bag of chips, but was too shy to take a picture. We got to the checkout line and I realized I didn't have my wallet. So I loaded everything back into my cart and called Andrew. He came with all the other kids and dropped Halle off with my wallet. So she got to see the Cheeto guy too and wasn't shy for a picture!


Her presence gave Abigail courage :)


We did our first at-home haircut for Andrew since....well, since Garland. All the girls got a turn to help. 


Some special treats just because! (Sam's Club clearance....)


Enjoying the soft grass while we wait to pick up Eve and Halle from school. We walked to get them almost every day in May and it was awesome! 


Abigail being Abigail :) 


Sleepy Hollow had "muffins with mom" before school on the 17th. The girls were just sad because they only had blueberry muffins. Boxes, and boxes, and boxes of only blueberry. Lots of the kids were disappointed. I bet "donuts with dad" is much more popular. 


Halle helping me at Sam's Club - ha! 


Abigail's latest scratch looking better and better!


The girls being goofy at WIC :) 





So Dr. Belirgen had said to bring Abigail back two weeks after her surgery for a follow-up MRI and to remove the stitches. I waited a couple days after we got home and when his office hadn't contacted me about an appointment, I called them. I love Dr. Belirgen, but his office staff is kind of.....useless. She said they didn't even have notification that Abigail had been released from the hospital yet and they couldn't possibly get her in until one month after surgery. Um.....I explained the situation but she wouldn't budge. So I called the oncologist to reschedule our initial chemo consultation (he wanted to wait until she was cleared by Dr. Belirgen). Dr. Kaylani immediately said he'd call Dr. Belirgen's cell and get it straightened out. By the next day, Dr. Belirgen's office called Andrew (guess they were avoiding me for going over their heads??) to say she'd been scheduled for the two week mark as originally planned. 

So, on Thursday, the 23rd, Abigail and I went back to Lubbock! First we did the rapid MRI, so no sedation. Then we had a couple of hours to kill until our appointment with Dr. Belirgen. We walked about a little, and then had planned on maybe going to the park, but....


Abigail fell asleep instead. So we just sat in the cool car while she slept. 


Dr. Belirgen said the MRI looked good and took out her stitches! She didn't like when he had to tug, but overall, she did great! He gave the ok for her to begin chemo in Amarillo. 


Checking out the fish tank on our way back to the car! 


And this is where we found Abigail when we went to bed that night - on the floor in the hallway to our room. All that driving is exhausting! 


The only thing left to do in May is celebrate Abigail's birthday! And boy, did we! 

End of School!

We wrapped up the school year in style - with Halle's kindergarten program first, on May 21st. Halle's class was easy to spot because they wore cowboys hats (and sang the cutest song about "I'm a long, tall Texan - don't worry, I have a video of it.)



There's our Halle in the second row from the top, third in from the side, in a turquoise shirt. 


Each child's writing was displayed, answering a different question for each class. Halle's class went first and I wasn't sure what was happening, so didn't get a video of her voice reading her page. But it says something about she's annoyed when her sisters do.....something....


Daddy came from work to see the big kindergarten graduate!


The last day of school was Friday, May 24th! Finishing 2nd grade and kindergarten!


And not happy about having to be home all summer :( . Some people just love school!


I made her smile nicely for a "real" picture. 


Summer is so boring! 



And I finally snuck a picture with the girls' Sleepy Hollow teachers - Eve had Ms. Giles:


And Halle had Ms Von Netzer: 


And is Halle's graduation picture not the cutest thing you've ever seen????


After school got out (early out!) we headed over to the park for what is apparently an annual tradition in the stake here - an end of school shaving cream fight at the splash pad! 

Cora, of course, headed right for the swings. :) 


All geared up and ready to go!


On your marks, get set, SPRAY! 


Halle, Abigail, and Cora were NOT happy about getting any of them, unless it was self-inflicted. They mostly steered clear of everyone else and sprayed their cream on the grass. 




Not so with Eve. 




She dove right into the thick of things!


Cora kept spraying her own hands then rubbing her nose and getting it in her mouth, then crying. I'd wash it off, then 5 seconds later, she'd repeat it. 


Eve had the time of her life.



Here we come, summer!



That evening when Dad got home, we got pretzels and ice cream and Sam's Club and bought a huge box of sidewalk chalk and a tree swing for the front yard. 


Bring on summer!