Three Years

Geez.  Stop getting older.

Carv is totally into boy things like superheroes, trains, cars, and planes.  He is such a stud.  He has this little catch phrase, "all night long." I have no idea where it came from, but he will throw it in all the time.  

Like, I will say, "Carver, you are such a big boy.  Are you going to go on the potty?"

"Yes.  I go on the potty all night long."

And he always says sugar bops.  Has for a year or two.  Once again, no idea.  But it is awesome. 

Love this little man.  He is getting way too big.  Sometimes I have to stop and remind myself that when the girls were turning three, I also had a one year old!  Now it is just all Carv, all the time.

And, fear of all fears...at his three year check up Carver was 39 inches and weighed 34 pounds 10 ounces. Only in the 79th percentile for height! When your sisters are all off the charts, 79% is scrawny!
I was skyping with Grandma Patty and Great Grandma Carver and told them about it.
Grandma Carver's reply? "Well, you did name him Carver."

Emergency Room

I’ve made it my entire life without visiting the emergency room.  Todd went once when he was about 8.  Put his head through the springs on a neighbor’s trampoline and ripped his ear off.

This spring we became regulars at the Owensboro Emergency Room.

Todd woke me up one morning and told me, jokingly, that he thought he was having a stroke because one side of his face was oddly numb and tingly.  WHAT?  I perked right up and started asking him questions.  He’d been to work out, but it was weird and a little painful and didn’t seem to be going away.

Of course I did what any logical person would do and I got on WebMD.  I told him that he needed to go to the emergency room, stat. After much nagging, he finally agreed…but he needed to shower first.

No. No way.  Cause if you are having a stroke, YOU ARE HAVING A STROKE!  Every minute counts!  I shoved him out the door and got the girls off to school.  I took Charlotte and Carver to Jade’s house and went to be by my dying husband’s side. 

After a bunch of costly medical tests, the professionals concluded that it was an acute migraine presenting itself in his face.  Probably stressed induced. 

Todd wanted to get out of there and head to work, but I made him stay home and sleep it off.  If you go to the hospital thinking you’re having a stroke and they tell you it is stress, you have earned a nap.

Then, a month or so later, I went upstairs to bed and Todd was pacing around our bedroom.  When I questioned his odd behavior, he said he was having sharp pain in the left side of his chest.  He was walking around trying to determine if he was short of breath.

Genius.  This time he did the Google search and had himself all paranoid. 

Chest pain? Check?

Radiating down the arm? Check.

Shortness of breath? Maybe. 

Google said he was having a heart attack.  I said I was going to bed.

He drove himself to the E.R. and they ran all their expensive tests again, determining that it must have just been a muscle spasm or something.  Probably due to stress.  He came home about one a.m. and got up at 6 to go to work.  (He did take it easy by not working out at 5.)

THEN, as if two visits weren’t enough, Macie also had to go.

One afternoon right before school got out I received a call from the school nurse informing me that Macie had been in with a sore throat. She didn’t’ have a temperature, but the nurse did notice a little white spot on her throat and wanted to let me know. When Mace got off the bus I checked her throat, but I couldn’t see anything.  Macie said she was tired and went upstairs and fell asleep on her bed.  Let me say that again – Macie, who goes to bed wide awake and wakes up ready to run a marathon every morning, fell asleep mid-day.  I knew something was wrong.  I made an appointment with the pediatrician and went upstairs to get her.  Before I woke her, I put my hand on her back and noticed that her heart seemed to be beating a million times a minute.  Weird.

I explained to the pediatrician that she had a sore throat, was tired, and that the school nurse noticed the white spot.  The pediatrician took her temp and listened to her chest.  Then she paused and listened to her chest again. Then she got the pulse/ oxygen finger monitor thingy and did that.  Then she did it again.  Then she said Macie needed to go to the emergency room because her oxygen was so low, her heart rate was over 140 beats per minute, and she was taking over thirty breaths a minute. 

WHaaaaat??  Huh? Macie was just sitting there.  Looking normal.  I thought maybe she had strep throat or something.

The pediatrician said that maybe with an in-office breathing treatment and steroid she could get everything into acceptable ranges.  Long story short, t worked.  She sent me off with a prescription for more steroids, instructions for the nebulizer, specific directions to call in the morning with her stats, and an overwhelming feeling of guilt for not knowing my daughter was crazy ill. 

WE headed off to pick up the other kids from the Orton’s house.  On the way home Macie started throwing up.  Of course at this point is was about ten after five, so no one was answering at the pediatrician’s office.  I called our across the street neighbor and friend who is also a pediatrician at the office and told him what had happened and that Macie was puking. He said that was a normal side effect, but that he wanted to come check her out as soon as we got home. 

He was walking across the street, stethoscope in hand, as we pulled into the driveway. 

He listened to her breathe a few times and said that if anyone with her numbers came into his office, he would have immediately sent him/her to the emergency room.  Huh? Whaaat?

So do I need to take her?

He explained that they would basically do what I was going to do, but they would monitor her all night.

In the end, he said I should take her in if her heart rate got above 135 again, if she was taking more than 30 breaths a minute, or if she showed any other sign of distress. 

Then he just kind of showed a lot of concern and disbelief at how sick she was.  Like, “Macie, you are one sick girl.  I can’t believe it.  You really are sick, sweetie.”

All while she sat on the couch all normal and fine looking. 

He told us to call if we needed anything and he was on his way. 

I did Macie’s inhaler and gave her the medicine and she went to bed.  She fell asleep quickly and I checked her breathing and heart rate.  Both were above the numbers Dr. Mason (our neighbor) had told me, but she was comfortable and asleep, so, while it worried me, it didn’t worry me enough to wake her up and drag her to the hospital.   

Sooo at ten o’clock, like any other normal mother would do, I made a quick run to Kohl’s.

Really, I had a coupon that expired that day, and I knew exactly what I needed.  I was maybe gone for 25 minutes. 

I got home and Riley was in the living room sobbing that she didn’t want Macie to have to go to the hospital.  Macie was sitting on the couch, awake.  Todd explained that when she woke up he had noticed her heart racing and that she was taking a lot of breaths, and that he pretty much panicked.  He called Dr. Mason and explained in these very generic terms that “Macie’s heart was beating really, really fast and that she was breathing really, really fast.”

Dr. Mason said that if we were worried we should take her to the hospital. 

UGH.  Less than thirty minutes was all it took for complete pandemonium to break out!  Once Todd had woke the neighbors I almost felt an obligation to take her to the E.R.

I did not feel like she was any worse off than before, but figured it was best at that point. 

They got her in right away, gave her oxygen and steroids, did more nebulizer treatments, and some chest x-rays.  Turns out she had viral pneumonia.  After a few hours we were on our way home. 

She continued with her steroids and did the nebulizer for four more days and was totally fine.

So, it was all due to allergies.  Oddly enough, at almost this exact same time last year, Macie had to get chest x-rays and an inhaler.  She used it for about three days and we never even thought of it after that.  There must be something in the Kentucky air that really triggers something this time of year.

Now, there is a silver lining.  Macie is pretty much horrified of doctors and hospitals, but she felt her E.R. visit was pretty special.  She got lots of attention and she got to be in control of the television remote.  So it wasn’t that bad of a deal. 

Easter 2013

 Look familiar?  We recycled last year's dresses.  Todd was disgusted with me. I found it totally practical.

Peeling hard boiled eggs after church-

Macie won her class coloring contest with this beauty-

The children were somewhat unwilling to take creepy bunny pictures this year.

Can't say I blame 'em.

Spring Break

We drove up to the Newport Aquarium for Spring Break. Newport is in Kentucky, about four hours from Owensboro, and just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. 

We stayed right outside Newport in the always classy Florence.

 Cincinnati-

I have many pictures from the aquarium.  

We touched horseshoe crab and sharks-

Riley was selected to be a Marshall in the penguin parade-  

On the drive home we detoured through Lexington to see some horse country.  We came across Kentucky Horse Park, but it was closing in an hour. Another adventure for another day.

We drove around the University of Kentucky campus trying to find a big UK by which we could take our picture.  All schools should have something like the A at Utah State. Just sayin'.  

We had to settle for this wildcat statue- 

 (The kids had just received some Easter cash from Aunt Maggie, so we let them each buy something at the aquarium gift shop.  The girls all got necklaces with sea animal charms and Carver got this space gun shooter thingy with lights and laser beam noises.  Totally obnoxious.  I don't know what we were thinking.  We had to listen to it for a good two hours on the trip home.  You can see it in the pic above. He didn't let it out of his grip for days.)

Harlem Shake

We spent a good portion of March watching girl's high school basketball.  All-American and Junior Olympian Becca Greenwell plays for Owensboro Catholic High School, which makes for pretty good local basketball. I took Riley and Macie to a couple of the regional games, then we made the state tournament more of a family affair.  Kentucky holds a true regional tournament.  School size makes no difference. At the state level there was an all girls private school with an enrollment of about 600, Owensboro Catholic, which may even be less, and teams from Louisville that have a few thousand kids enrolled.  It was really fun to watch. So much talent.  And real Division One talent, like talent headed to Duke, Tennessee, UConn, Louisville, etc.
One of the most entertaining parts was when the student sections competed in the Harlem Shake.
Now, I had heard of the Harlem Shake, but I just didn't get it.
Then it all made sense.
It was awesome.
It led to this on a Sunday afternoon:



Some state tourney pics from Riley's Ipod:

 The games were at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, which is about 45 minutes away. WKU is home of the Hilltoppers. Unfortunately Big Red, weirdest college mascot ever, wasn't around.

For Catholic's first round game I took Macie and Riley out of school.
When I got back from taking Macie to the bathroom, Riley had a big smile on her face and this picture on her Ipod.  I thought it pretty brave of her to go up and ask Becca for a picture.  When I questioned who had taken it, she replied, "I don't know. That girl over there."

It may seem weird, but Becca is a pretty big deal.  I think she ended up being ranked fourth in the nation.  And it is totally fine by me that the girls look up to her.  She is a great example of hard work, sportsmanship, and dedication. 
She is headed to Duke next year.  We are hoping Jabrari Parker converts her.

Macie's Happenings

 Macie is special.  In more ways than one.  She thinks she is special to Grandpa Johnson because they are both lefties. She thinks she is special to Grandpa Madsen because they have the same birthday.  We know she is special because she has an extra tooth.  I'm sure it will be an orthodontic nightmare, but for now we just go on letting it make her feel special. 

 Macie's first grade performance was Around the World. 

She requested the distinguished position of "Limbo Girl" and was successful in her endeavors. 

Charlotte Turns Five

My sweet Valentine Baby!  Charlotte has changed so much this past year.  She no longer loves quesadillas, for-crying-out-loud! Now she is all about chips and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. When she likes something, she really likes it!
She loves to play mom and dad or school with anyone willing, and she can usually convince either Macie or Carver to play along.  She likes to ride her bike and play with her friend, Alaina, who lives across the street. She still sucks her thumb and cuddles her blankie.
During preschool, which is Monday, Wednesday, Friday, she will easily take three naps a week.  Learning and socializing are apparently exhausting!
She loves going to Primary, but she is still very timid and skeptical (read: crocodile tears and hyperventilate-type crying) of unfamiliar or "scary" situations like getting x-rays or going to kindergarten orientation.

At her five year check-up it was discovered that Charlotte has scoliosis. We did x-rays to discover it is an 11 degree curvature from T9 to L4, which is considered very mild, but it is something we will definitely watch.  She will have x-rays to check it every six months. Other than that, she is uber healthy. In fact, the pediatrician said she is the size of the average seven-year-old.

Five years-
Weight- 52 lbs, 95%
Height- 47 inches, 99%
Blood Pressure - 92/64