Lauren's Checkup

Lauren's CXR and abdominal US were normal. Her BUN is finally normal, but her creatinine is now elevated:( We'll have to head back in 7-10 days to get it drawn again and make sure it's not trending up more. Her next check up will be in September for a CT scan (chest, abdomen, pelvis) and a heart ECHO, + the usual labs and urine tests. . .will make for one long appointment next time!!! . . .and they said her last CT would be her last (but she really needs 2 more), oh well. I guess you have to do what you have to do to make sure everything is good.

The picture says it all. . .

Where does all the T.P. go???

I had to take a picture of Lauren's dolls and there "sleeping bags." Too funny:)

All Girl:)

I love how Lauren plays with her Strawberry Shortcake Friends. She carefully lined them all up in a row on the floor so I had to take a pic because it looked so cute. She loves these dolls (thanks Grandma Jenny and Papa Greg)! She took them to show-in-tell today because they smell fruity. "F" is the letter of the week and the topic was the 5 senses, so it worked out pretty well. The other thing she did was grab a bunch of tissues and use them as pillows and beds (she has done this before with T.P. and her mini princess dolls). Sometimes you just have to stop and look at the small, simple stuff . . .like kids pretend play:)

Dance!!!

We finally signed Lauren up for dance for the first time EVER! Because of the chemo effect on her immune system and her profound anemia we weren't super comfortable doing it when she was 3+. She has been doing well for a while now, it's just been busy as usual around here. We happened to get her in a class right before they started a new session this month. Here she is posing before her first class (ballet and tap combined). She gets to go with her best friend Mae. Her teacher is Ms. Julie and she seems AMAZING! She is super good with Lauren and she has already learned some dance vocab and moves. She LOVES it! We are super excited to see her perform in the spring recital:)

Missing 2 front teeth. . .well sort of

December 17th, 2011
In December Brady was SO excited to finally have a loose tooth. We wiggled it and jiggled it for a few weeks so it was super loose, but he didn't want me to pull it out. I tried a little once and it made a horrible noise and bled a bit (which scared Brady) so I stopped. I remember my dad would always promise he would just "look" at my loose tooth, but would always yank it out. It made me cry for a second then I was excited it was out:) You think I would have stopped showing him.

I happened to notice his adult tooth growing in behind it so I really wanted to get the baby one out. My brother Greg (AKA the Dentist) did the old floss around the tooth and shut the door. Well it worked and the tooth went flying! We looked and looked but couldn't ever find it. Brady wanted the tooth fairy to come, but NO TOOTH! He wrote her a little note and she came!!!

Well, fast forward a few weeks later and ditto! His adult tooth was growing in behind again! His tooth wasn't as loose this time, but Brock and I tied the floss then I had Brady shut the back door (because he was worried I would shut it too hard). The tooth came right out, but this time it was still hanging by the floss. He was super excited to see what it looks like (and his blood hole - as he terms it). It bled for a little bit but he was super excited to have a tooth to take to school so he could get a tooth box. The tooth fairy left 4 quarters this time (no $ bill in stock I guess;). He was excited to have the money and even more excited to take the tooth to school. I told him the tooth fairy knows how much he wanted to keep it so that is why she left it.

January 17th, 2012
Tonight he (on the umpteenth time of coming out of bed. . .Just got out again and it's almost 9:30PM!!) asked me if I left the money under his pillow (which I of course denied immediately) because Logan at school said the tooth fairy isn't real! Man, way to take some fun and excitement away Logan!!! I told him the tooth fairy doesn't visit Logan because he doesn't believe in him. Then he asked if she was going to come again tonight since he still has his tooth. . .LOL. Smart kid:)

wOw! It's been busy around here. . .

SO, I noticed it's been FOR-EV-ER since I blogged, but it's been a bit busy around here. I am making stuff again for our neighborhood boutique (Next Friday, October 7th 10-5PM). I am excited, but stressed a little about finishing what I started, and also about selling things. It went well last time, so hopefully it is successful again, and I won't be left with too many things. . .unless they are different items.

Brady is in the 1st grade and is loving school. I thought he would come home tired. . .at least a little;) It is his first ALL-day school! He hasn't really enjoyed homework as much, thankfully he is getting the hang of it (the fact he can actually play once he finishes, rather then dragging it out for 2+ hrs!). He loves to buy lunch, but who knows what if anything much he actually eats on those days. He is my busy boy, and mealtimes are no different. Whenever he takes his lunch he comes home with practically the entire thing and has his 'snack' after school. I know he has to sit on the bench, but I am sure he is chatting away instead of eating. He is getting better at reading, and reads to me every day for 10-15 min (from the books he borrows from his teacher). I am definetely excited he is picking it up:)

Lauren starts preschool on my birthday, a week before Halloween. I think it will be nice to have her go socialize and learn for a couple hours M/W/F, then it will be just me and Courtney! She has finally tackled bedwetting. She has been daytime potty trained since she turned 2, but has been in pull ups for 2 yrs! She has no gone for almost 2 weeks in underwear! The first night was a disaster, unire soaked bed and girl in the middle of the night, so bathtime and changing of the sheets is always fun in the wee hours of the morning. Needless to say she slept in underwear AND pullups for a couple nights after that and remained dry. Hopefully she keeps it up. She has also managed to quit sucking her thumb, which feels like an absolute miracle! We used this thumb sucking nailpolish my friend gave me, and it worked well. She actually asked for it over a week ago (of course it was midnight, but I painted them). That is THE best habit gone!!

Courtney is talking up a storm. She is really good at names (unlike Brady who still asks his COUSINS what there names are!!). She is a lefty like Brady too, but a big eater (not like Brady)! We are trying to tackle the bink right now. She has only used it for nap/bed times for months and months. But I finally decided this week she needs to try to be bink free. She has done 2 nap times in a row without it and tonight is the first night. So far, so good:) Hopefully she will keep it up!

Well, once this boutique is over and things settle down I will finally get around to bloogging the rest of my trip. One day. . .SOON!