Ouch

So... Friday I had a little surgery on my foot. It was a long time coming. Back in July, we were headed home from a weekend in Minnesota, when I noticed my right foot was a little sore. Not a huge deal, but it was a little uncomfortable. A week later, my foot (specifically the joint where my second toe meets my foot) was super sore and starting to swell. Because I didn't have a primary care physician, it ended up with a visit to Urgent Care where, without taking any x-rays, diagnosed it as gout and prescribed some pain meds. It helped somewhat. Eventually the swelling went down, but the pain never completely went away. In fact, shortly after Christmas, the pain became much, much worse. Frustrated, I finally made an appointment to see a foot doctor (um, duh!) Because of the location of the pain, he was quick to diagnose a "plantar plate tear" - a fairly common problem that most occurs most often in the joint of the second toe. 

TA DA! There were several treatment options- but most of the less invasive ones were temporary fixes... leading back to a surgical "fix" in a matter of time. So... I opted for  surgery. THIS is what should have happened on Friday... but it's not quite what transpired. 

When the doctor opened my foot up, there was no plantar plate tear after all. What he did find, however, what that the cartilage in my foot was flapping and unattached to any bone. Hmmm. He ended up trimming the loose cartilage, shooting my toe full of cortisone, and still proceeded with some of the bone shortening, screws, etc to alleviate the pressure on my toe. Lovely. At some point prior to surgery, my foot suffered some sort of "trauma." While I can't specifically remember injuring it last summer, I did fall in the shower about a week before Hattie was born (try NOT to picture that, OK?) and I bruised my foot pretty bad and was fairly certain I had broken my toe (Dan was under strict orders to not let ANY nurse come near my foot when they were in stirrups for delivery....) I may never know if that was the source of the problem... and, because it wasn't the repair he was planning on, my foot doctor cannot guarantee that I won't have more problems with this toe in the future... Sigh. 

Long story short- I have 3 inch incision across the top of my foot, a prescription for Vicodin, and a wonderful "boot" I get to wear for the next 4-6 weeks. Dan and the girls have been outstandingly patient and helpful. Today Dan went back to work and my parents were so amazing and jumped in to help drive me to doctor appointments and get the girls to and from school. 

Oh, and at the rate we're going in Wisconsin, my foot will be healed LOOOOOOOONG before flip-flop season gets here. 

So.. This Happened Today...

Today started out normal. Typical Thursday. Get Lucy on the bus. Get Maggie to school. Hang out with Hattie. Thursdays are normally our "stay-home-and-catch-up-on-all-the-things-that-didn't-get-done-during-the-week-so-we-can-enjoy-our-weekend" day. But not today. Let me explain:

* Yesterday I bought the big girls a bag of gummy worms. We put them in a candy dish on the counter in the kitchen. Hattie got to sample one last night and has been a little obsessed ever since. The begging ("I want one dose nacks, peeeze Momma!") started shortly after breakfast. I kept putting her off, telling her she could have one when Lucy came home from school. A little bit before 9:00, I ran downstairs to switch a load into the dryer. Gone 2 minutes... max. When I came back up, one of the kitchen chairs was next to the cupboard. The candy dish was empty. And Hattie was nowhere to be seen. I wishwishwishwishwish I had a camera on hand... I found her hiding behind the recliner in the family room, cheeks FULL, with 2 little gummy worm tails dangling from her lips, and an "OH SH*T!" look in her eyes. It was so, so funny, I couldn't even get mad. 

* Fast forward a few hours. Had to wake Hattie up from a nap (I HATE doing that!) in order to pick Maggie up from school to get to a dentist appointment on time. Lucy was getting into the van, and I was busy chasing Hattie in circles AROUND the van in an attempt to get her into her carseat. As I closed in on her, she made a dash for the door- the same door Lucy was starting to slide closed. Everything happened in slow motion- as I leapt towards Hattie and yelled at Lucy to stop closing the door. Too little. Too late. Thank God Lucy doesn't have much strength and the door didn't close all the way. Hattie started crying so hard I was afraid she was going to throw up. Her hand had a horrible indentation from the door, and she was screaming so hard I was certain she had broken her hand in a million pieces. I got her into her carseat, frantically called my mom- unsure of whether I should still go pick up Maggie or drive poor Hattie to the ER.... Thank goodness for mommies... mine talked me down and offered to meet me at the dentists' office to sit with the girls if I needed to take Hattie in. By the time I got Maggie signed out and drove across town, Hattie had settled down and was busy singing along to the Frozen soundtrack. Her hand seems fine- she doesn't seem to have any pain, but she will have one heck of a bruise come tomorrow. Whew. Crisis averted. 

*Now, we're at the dentist. The 2 big girls had an appointment to get their teeth cleaned. While I got them signed in, all three of the girls ran into the little side room of the waiting room with all the toys. I sat down with the latest issue of "O" magazine and took a deep breath, happy to have a few minutes of peace and quiet with everyone occupied and a few minutes to wait until the appointment. Then I smelled it. Perfect timing, Hattie had a load in her pants. Lovely. I had not packed a real diaper bag for an hour long visit to the dentist. Thank goodness I always keep a spare diaper in my car and wipes in my purse. Dentist bathrooms, however, are NOT conducive to changing an angry two year old who would much rather be playing with the dentists' Legos than getting her butt wiped. And then... what do I do with the diaper? There was no way I could leave that stinky thing in that small bathroom. Thank goodness for a friendly office staff... I asked for an extra plastic bag and offered to set it outside and take it with me to throw away at home when I left... but they took care of it for me. I really shouldn't have been too embarrassed. The best was yet to come. Just wait.... 

*Maggie gets to get her teeth cleaned first, because she's the "big sister." (This would be a great time to point out that this was NOT either's first visit... and they both LOVE to go to the dentist) While she was in the chair, I sent Lucy back out to the waiting room to grab a book for Hattie. All of a sudden, I heard Lucy's frantic footsteps in the tile hallway and heard her yelling "MOM! I have to go potty!" Then I saw her in the doorway, legs crossed, and a puddle growing between her feet. She looked at me with her big, blue eyes and said, "I couldn't hold it. Someone was in the bathroom!" Oh, my. I jumped up and grabbed her to run to the potty (Why is this a mom's first instinct? Obviously it's too late.... ) When I got in the hallway, I saw it. Not only did she pee in the doorway, she peed ALL. THE. WAY. DOWN. THE. HALL. Holy God- I thought for sure I was going to be one of the first people ever kicked out of a dentists' office. Again, I am so thankful for amazing, wonderful, patient, kind, understanding staff... While I took Lucy into the bathroom to clean up, someone else offered to sit with Hattie and keep her busy, a different staff member started mopping (even though I offered to do that myself, too!) and my dear dentist knocked on the bathroom door and handed Lucy her cardigan to wear (because I haven't carried spare clothes for my four year old in years!) This would also be a great time to mention that Lucy was wearing a skirt, tights, and boots. I am not lying when I tell you I POURED pee out of her boots. It was lovely. The tights, well.. I just threw those away. I rinsed her underpants and skirt out the best I could in the sink and washed Lucy up. We put on the dentists' sweater (and not much else) and Lucy went on to get her teeth cleaned. Like I told Dan, better her wearing the dentists' sweater and no underpants NOW than in 20 years.... Gramma saved the day (again) by bringing some spare clothes and meeting us at the office so the ride home wasn't  too cold! 

Poor Lucy was so upset about having an accident (she hasn't had one in almost 2 years!) but I reassured her that one day we would laugh about her wetting her pants at the dentists' office. She just looked at me and said, "I'm just not ready for that today, Mom." My life is never, ever dull. But... I wouldn't change it for the world... but I do deserve a beer tonight. 

Spring is in the air!

As I type this, the temperature outside is a whopping 48 degrees and the sun is SHINING! Hattie and I dusted off the stroller this morning and walked up to pick Lucy up from school. I brought the double stroller, but "encouraged" Lucy to walk... she is a small bundle of energy lately! And... she managed to find EVERY puddle along the way. Oh, well! That's what spring is all about, right?

Yay for warmer temperatures and melting snow! Let's hope we've finally rounded the corner to springtime!

 Strapped in and ready to roll!

Lots of puddles!

We *almost* missed this....buried under all the slush and dead leaves... but it looks like tulips are sprouting!

The Terrible 2's... Bring it on!

Hattie celebrated her second birthday on Saturday. Yesterday, she went for her two year well-visit. And, it went.. okay. Healthwise, she's awesome... Behavior-wise? Well, that's another story. After calling "Haiti" (seriously, how hard is it to pronounce HAT-TIE?) to a room and completely screwing up her "playing-with-the-train-and-watching-the-fish-in-the-waiting-room" agenda, the screaming began. And didn't really stop. After trying for almost five minutes to get a weight on the big scale, then the baby scale, the nurse finally left and said "Mom, maybe you can get a weight and just let me know." Um, okay.... and I did. Then, the doctor came in. God bless our pediatrician. I adore him. While Hattie screamed "Stop it! Ow! Stop it! Ow!" every time he came near  her, he just laughed and joked about the 5 two year well visits he had scheduled yesterday and how he thinks his office staff is trying to drive him away.... Which made me feel a teeny bit better- apparently NO ONE behaves for their two year appointments... 

We finally made it to the end. Hattie (somehow) got a sticker and raced back out to look at the fish in the waiting room before I even picked up my purse. Here's her stats and how she stacks up to her to big sisters: 

Height: 34"          Weight: 25 lbs 6 oz          Head Circ: 18.75" 
    (50th %)                       (25-50th %)                            (50th %) 

Maggie: 34.75"      Maggie: 26 lbs 14 oz        Maggie: 19" 
Lucy: 33.5"           Lucy: 24 lbs                    Lucy: 19" 

So, if there's one thing I've taken away from all those numbers... 

it's that Lucy is our giant-headed runt. 

Here's a picture of each of them at their 2nd birthday parties: 

 Hattie Irene- March 2014

Lucy Elizabeth- June 2011

Margaret Julia- April 2009

Sing! Sing! Sing!

Maggie sings in the childrens' choir at our church... and LOVES it! A few weeks ago, her choir director mentioned that she would like Maggie to sing a solo during one of the masses. When I talked to Maggie about it, she kind of freaked out and said she really, really didn't want to (this from a kid who wants to be a "rock star" when she grows up... hmmmm....) Anyway, after some conversation, she was willing to agree to sing WITH someone else, but not alone. Yesterday was her big day, and she did such an amazing job! Her and another little girl sang the opening verse to "Go Light Your World." 

(Forgetful mommy didn't bring the camcorder- but the song is awesome... 

check it out here) 

At least I remembered the camera: 

Yeah, so we had some time to kill before mass while the choir rehearsed. Snapped this one of Miss Lucy....

...and then Lucy took the camera. I had 47 pictures of empty pews and her feet... and this gem!

C is for Cookie... B is for Birthday!

Yesterday was Hattie's second (gasp!) birthday. It happened to be an "off" week for faith formation classes, so we were able to plan a celebration on her real day! Hattie is obsessed with all things Sesame Street, so we decided on a "Cookie Monster" theme. What a wonderful day we had!

 Hattie started her morning off with a big poop (through her jammies), Fruit Loops in the family room, and watching some Sesame Street from the top of the toy box!

Cookie Monster cake!

 Cookie bar!

 I sooooo wanted to do a "year in picture" display. Dan said it couldn't be done. I was up for the challenge. 24 hours after the party, and I still have them all up. I love it!

  

 Hattie shows Papa the cookies...

 Pretty much love this picture of my dad and Hattie... they are obviously buddies!

 ...and then there's Gramma (or MeeMaw as Hattie calls her) They're pretty good buds, too!

 COULD. NOT. GET. HER. TO. SMILE. Grrrr....

 Candle time!

 Singing "Hap Burt-Day!" I LOVE all the LOVE surrounding my little girl in this picture... 

 Big sisters are really great helpers when it comes to blowing out birthday candles!

 We thought it was only fair to re-light the candle and give Hattie a shot at blowing it out all by herself!

 My baby girl and I... where does the time go? Sigh...  

 Holy presents!!!

 Party wouldn't be complete without a clown nose, right?? 

 

 New baby doll... so she can keep up with her sisters! 

Thanks Auntie Katie, Uncle Doug, and Hunter!

 Taking a break to read birthday cards!

 This gift was a huge hit- look at everyone's faces!

 Money is always a great gift... but it's so much better when it's presented like THIS!!!

 Hattie says, "PEOPLE!" Another popular gift!!