"The Urinator"

From the minute Brady was rolled out of his tonsils surgery, every nurse, doctor, parent, grandparent, and aunt have been lecturing him about the importance of drinking a lot of fluids to help his throat heal. Then, because he wasn't feeling good and refused to drink, he ended up back in the hospital dehydrated. Again, everyone went on and on about how important it was for him to drink as much as possible. This time he listened. Brady has gone above and beyond...he drinks 'til he can't drink no more. And I have a foul odor in my house to prove it...urine. Because of his massive intake of liquid, he now pees all the time. And I mean, ALL of the time. In his sleep on his bed (or ours), napping on the couch, outside playing...you get the picture. Yesterday, he ran in the house headed for the bathroom and didn't make it..he left a nice trail from my front door to the potty. We're trying to convince him that he doesn't have to drink as much anymore, but he has it in his head that if he stops he will end up back in the hospital. So, until he realizes he's fully healed, I'll follow him around with a tub of Clorox wipes and a bottle of Febreze. The culprit.

The Zoo....Again

Finally, a beautiful sunny day. Why not go to the zoo? Apparently, we weren't the only ones with this thought. There must have been 30 school buses in the parking lot. Because the zoo is only 15 minutes from our house, we often visit for an hour or less...run in, see a few animals, then leave. Today, the boys wanted to "pet" the stingrays, so we thought we'd give it a try.

The stingray exhibit opened a few weeks ago and the boys loved it! Cate wasn't very interested, and I think Scott enjoyed it the most. Very cool. After the stingrays, we flew through the penguin house, snake house, waved to the giraffes, ate ice cream and were outta there. Home within 90 minutes...not too bad. Still plenty of time to cut grass and get ready for Ben's ballgame tonight..the only thing on our schedule..amazing.

Brady touching the stingrays

Cate watching the penguins.

Bennett, Kile, and Brady enjoying some Dip n Dots ice cream

Cate eating homemade potato chips..yum!

Swim Season has Started!

This is the first year we have missed opening weekend at Paddlers. The boys were extremely disappointed. So, yesterday when they asked to go, we knew it would be freezing but they are old enough to figure it out on their own! And it was cold. When we arrived around 5pm, we were the only ones there..besides the lifeguards. Bennett immediately jumped in and swam like it was 100 degrees outside. Brady wasn't as brave. He did the one-toe dip in the water, walked around...tested it over and over again. Finally got in..chest deep. Got back out. Took some harassing from Bennett to get Brady to jump in. And then he was done. Time for nachos. Bennett continued to swim for about 30 minutes before he was finished. 25 minutes longer than I thought. Cate walked the pool deck...checking things out, eating nachos and occasionally sitting on the side of the baby pool and splashing her feet. I could tell she wanted to jump right in but restrained herself (probably because she didn't want to get her food wet!) Hopefully the water will warm up enough for us to spend some quality time there this weekend. I need sun!

'Holy Cow' it's cold!!!!!!!!

Apparently, it was warm enough for Bennett

Cruising the pool...first time she's enjoyed the pool on her own two feet

Still cold

Bennett loves the diving board

Finally sucks it up and jumps in

"Is this enough for nachos and a slushie??"

Cate playing in the water...that's nacho cheese and ketchup all over her face

Found more water to play in...she loves getting messy

I Survived....

A weekend trip with my kids. Actually, it was a lot of fun. Boys had a blast and Cate was perfect. In fact, I don't remember her crying a single tear. Our parenting style of keeping to zero schedules really paid off this weekend. We didn't have to plan anything around Cate's naps because she adapts so well with whatever we're doing. Carter had four soccer games in three days, so we had a lot of down time to hang out at the hotel and enjoy the city.

We're on our way

Cate fell asleep within ten minutes of being on the road

Playing baseball at a rest stop...the boys can't go two hours without throwing the ball around!

Cate hanging out at the rest area

Entertaining everyone with a game of "Where's Cate?"

Eating dinner Friday night...Zack, Logan, Carter, and Zach

They found a girls soccer team :) Lord, help me. I'm not ready for this!

Getting ready to swim..the ground was really slippery

Carter making another bad decision.

Game #1 We won 2-1

Cate seriously played with her stroller throughout all of the games. Best money I ever spent!

Game #3 We won 3-1

Kyle and Carter with the dance team girls at the Wizards game Saturday night.

Hunter, Bennett, and Brady enjoying pre-game activities

Daddy and Cate waiting for Carter to come out onto the field

Carter's team received Wizards uniforms and were introduced with the team and stood with them during the National Anthem...very cool

Playing in the hallway. The hotel was super nice and they put our entire team on the same floor. We didn't have to worry about bothering our neighbors and the kids ran around and played soccer all night.

Miz Nosy pulling her suitcase to see what Brady was mad about

Helping with the luggage...or not

Championship game. It rained the entire game...very sloppy field. We lost 4-2.

Waiting for his second place trophy. Soaked and filthy..makes for a great ride home.

Brady didn't stop talking the entire ride to KC or home...he finally fell asleep 10 minutes before we pulled into our driveway!

We're Outta Here

Well, at least for the weekend. Carter has a soccer tournament in Kansas City this weekend. We are packing up the van and heading out. Hopefully the four-hour car ride won't be too painful. We are waiting to leave until Cate is tired and she'll probably sleep at least 2 hours in the car. The boys have their movies, IPODs, DS's...whatever will keep them entertained. Soccer games are Saturday and Sunday and if we make it to the finals, the game is Monday morning...so, we have no idea when we'll be home. Hopefully in time to make it to the pool before closing Monday night...we have never missed opening weekend at Paddlers!

Wish us luck. GO SCOTT GALLAGHER!!!!!!!!!!

Cate helping me pack

Carter Passed 6th Grade!!!

Ok, enough with the dramatics. He actually finished the year with 5 A's and 2 B's...very very good grades. We were just sweating the behavior issues...thought he may end up in a BD (behavior disorder) class next year..or juvie. I have been going through my fifty boxes of pictures and ran across this classic picture of Carter. Age 4. FYI, it's a candy cigarette..his favorite candy when he was four..why wouldn't it be?!?! This makes me laugh every time I look at it.

Backyard Fun

Probably not my best parenting moment, but they were having so much fun! No wonder we've had so many emergency room visits!!! The two videos are very funny...especially when Brady finally explained why he has a hole in the butt of his shorts!

Carter, Bennett, Zack, and Brady bouncing Cate

This is Carter's signature pose..what a dork

Cate loves to be on the trampoline

Bennett and Carter jumping out of the tree...Scott was not thrilled with this

Brady jumping (not out of tree)...apparently, I need to take a camera class!

So funny!

Carter and Zack..they can climb almost to the very top

I Spoke Too Soon....

We were back at Children's Hospital last night...blah. Brady woke up at 10pm whimpering a little bit and when I checked on him, there was blood everywhere. It was running out of his mouth and was all over his pillow, blanket, and sheets. I immediately called his pediatrician's after- hours service and they told us to head to the hospital. After an hour wait in the waiting room, we were given a room. The ER doctor took a look and said the wound had clotted and there was no evidence of more bleeding. They called in the ENT (I'm sure she was thrilled..she looked like she just rolled out of bed) and she thought it would be best to admit Brady for observation and stay overnight...double blah. Diagnosis: severe dehydration. They put an IV in his arm to administer a drip of fluids. Of course Brady didn't cry when they stuck him with the needle..in fact, he watched the entire thing. The nurses were once again amazed with our Brady :) Around 3am we were moved to the 10th floor and Brady was able to get a good 5 hours sleep. Scott and I weren't as lucky. The room was huge..one recliner, one couch, two tv's, bathroom..it was loaded. Treated like kings on the 10th floor...Brady kept calling it a "hotel". The Dr. was in at 7am and said they would keep him for the better part of the day and watch for more bleeding. Bennett and Cate visited for a bit and they all got a surprise visit from Louie the Blues mascot. (Brady was hoping Albert Pujols would visit next!) Ben and Brady each got pucks and a headband. Very cool. We were finally discharged at 5pm. Brady is feeling better, but still has a very sore throat. He has eaten much better tonight and I'm hoping he'll get a good night's sleep. Scott is already asleep (its 9pm) and I don't think I'll need my sleeping pills tonight!!

Getting his IV...I like to think his tolerance is due to all of the episodes of "Trauma:Life in the ER" he watches with me :)

Scott trying to get some sleep

Don't feed the animals.......

Bennett reading a Star Wars book to Brady

Cate right before she pulled everything out of all of the drawers

Blues mascot Louie delivering gifts...he took Ben's hat and ran down the halls with it!

That's one nice headband. We worked on puzzles all day.

Our view of Forest Park

Cate and I enjoying the view

Finally, we're home and can play outside!!