Graduation, Camping, and Surgery- all in 7 days!

On Tuesday, May 13, Lincoln graduated from his Mother's Day Out. It was an enjoyable program with many cute songs and skits.

Below, you will see Lincoln's shiny medallion. His Mother's Day Out has a program that gives the students an option of memorizing bible verses and other things (NT, OT, Apostles, etc). Lincoln worked with Brad to memorize all of them and LOVED doing it. In his class of 22 children, 6 accomplished this challenge. We are glad that he enjoyed doing it.

In fact, Lincoln has already been asking what his memory work would be when he went to Kindergarten. He was disappointed when I told him he wouldn't have a "bible" class in Kindergarten but he would learn all sorts of new things (that can be frightening!!).

The Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, Brad, Lincoln, Catherine and I went camping in Big South Fork. It was a beautiful weekend, and we enjoyed our time outdoors immensely. I am looking forward to going again.

Coleman didn't go camping this time, but here he is in our home-made firepit at home.

The slept so good- until 7:30 am!!

Lincoln enjoyed playing in the river, and thought his shells were pretty cool. My poor, sweet Catherine. I left her water shoes at home!!

The cicadas were alive and singin' at Big South Fork. The kids were facinated with them. Lincoln didn't like to touch his, but didn't mind if it stayed on his shirt. Catherine called her's "my cada".

Tuesday, May 20, Lincoln had double hernia surgery. He was born with them, and they are apparently somewhat common with little boys. I was somewhat worried about Lincoln and how he would do before the surgery and recovery wise, but that was all unneccessary. We arrived at the hospital at 6 am. He didn't go to surgery until 7:30am. That gave us plenty of time to get accustomed to the environment, sounds, people, nurses... you name it. Lincoln hardly hesitated when they took his hand to walk to the surgery room. He started to say "I want you to come with me", but I told him that Catherine walked down to her surgery (tubes) by herself with the nurses. That was enough for him, he went with them just fine. They did let him take his little puppy. Because he was fine going, I was fine with him going. Had he cried, I would have cried too. It is just a different experience.

Below: This is Lincoln when they brought him to his "room" for the day (we were discharged at 4 pm). He had already "woken up" from the anethesia in the recovery room where he apparently did all sorts of tricks that he doesn't remember (so said the nurse). You will see his little puppy under his arm- the nurses put a mask, hat, and wrapped its little arm just like Lincoln's had been.
Lincoln popped up after a couple of hours and said "Can I color?" The nurse brought us all sorts of fun stuff plus Jell-O and a popsicle. Face to face with "Brownie".
Me and my "baby" :)
Lincoln was so brave and hardly complained (just the car ride home made him nauseus). The hardest part is NOW. No running, jumping, climbing, swimming, kicking, biking, twisting, etc for about a month. Lincoln was excited, however, to get showered with gifts from friends and family. He was beginning to expect things. One day he awoke from his nap and said, "Mommy, did anybody bring me anything while I was sleeping?" He did say too that he wished Catherine had had the surgery because he just wanted to "run and climb trees".

A funny exchange today:
Lincoln- "Daddy, what are we going to do tonight?"
Brad- "Whatever you want. Maybe we can play baseball."
Lincoln- "Daaaaddeee, I can't play baseball, remember? How 'bout we go to the playground?"
Brad- "Lincoln, you can't really play on the playground."
Lincoln- "Oh yeah. Well what are we going to do then?" Brad pauses.
I said "Well, we can squirt you with the hose."
Lincoln "Woo hoo!"

A Dreadful Situation

There are few things that I like better about boys when compared to girls. One of the main things is that when boys have to go potty, they can actually go without touching anything (besides themselves) if they are properly informed beforehand. However, with a little girl that is SO not the case- just about EVERYTHING gets touched in the few feet from the door of the stall to the potty.

Since I have had kids, public restrooms have given me the weeby jeebies more than they used to. As soon as I walk into a bathroom I begin to scrutinize everything- the counters, the FLOOR, the seat, the little trash can in each stall, and even the walls (I've learned a lot from the walls). And there is one thing that I have not allowed Lincoln or Catherine to do and that is to go into the stall by themselves (Lincoln does now... just not at 3) . You know how they get into the "I do it" stage- "I lock it... I wipe my bottom...". Well, Mommy "does it" in the public bathroom in the Brown family. The thought of my child locking themselves into a public bathroom stall and me having to crawl on the floor.... uh, no!

Well I caved on that. One Saturday, at Lincoln's soccer game Catherine had to go potty. Of course it was the day that I forgot Coleman's stroller. So Catherine, Coleman and I walk to the bathroom. As we approach the stall, I am thinking "There is no way all 3 of us are going to fit in that stall." And I go on to imagine the 3 of us in there with Coleman touching everything as I try to help her. That immediately grossed me out because he puts his hands in his mouth every 10 seconds. So, Catherine looks at me says, "Mommy, I do it." I look at her holding the stall door lock. "She can reach it very well," I thought. So I decided okay, she can do it this time, and she did it. So for the past several weeks, Catherine has been going into the stall all by herself.

Well tonight, the dreaded getting locked in a stall happened.... at Chili's restaurant. She went into the stall, said "I do it", went potty, and then she couldn't reach the lock to get out. The bottom of the door was like 12 inches off the ground. There was toilet paper, drips of.... blah, but she had to get out. But guess what? It was my lucky night. Brad took her to the potty tonight and had to scoot on his back into that nasty stall. WOO HOO for me. It didn't happen to me!But it sure was funny when he relayed the story!! I am SO GLAD it wasn't me!!

Ear tubes for Catherine

This week has been VERY eventful. We've seen an audiologist, ENT doctor, and been to the surgery center. It all started April 25 at Cat's 3 year check up when I requested a hearing test. Her ears did fail. From there we were sent to the audiologist on May 5 who reassured with news that it wasn't a permanent hearing problem, but hearing loss due to ear wax or fluid behind the eardrum. That got an appointment with the ENT. We were lucky there was a cancellation, and we saw him May 6. He gently removed some ear wax (Catherine sat so still and didn't make a peep) then ran another hearing test which showed she still had mild hearing loss.

Let me take a moment to explain the hearing loss. Since Christmas, we have noticed Catherine saying "What?" a lot or turning her head or even lifting her head off a pillow to hear something. Even at the ENT's office, if her back was to us in the lobby, we could say her name and she wouldn't hear us. She has had few ear infections.

The ENT doc asked us if we thought she had had this problem for 3 months or longer to which Brad and I both said yes confidently. He said that she did have fluid and that he recommended tubes. Thankfully they had an appt. for today May 8.

We went in early at 7:30 am. We told Catherine this morning that she was going to the doctor again. She was going to take a little nap at the doctor's office and then she would wake up and we'd go home. So when it was time for her to go with the nurse she walked away without hesitation. 15 minutes later the doc came out and said she did great and that there was a lot of thick fluid in her middle hear that would NOT have cleared up by itself. He said she will definitely hear better. A few mintues later we got to go back and hold her as the anesthesia wore off. She was fussy just as the nurses said she would be, but is now back to her normal self.

In a day or two we should really notice hearing improvements! I can't wait!!!

Fun at the Playground