We're still here... sometimes

I can't believe it's been almost a month that I've been away from my posts! We've been busy around here with some new obstacles and great victories as well.

Alex has cut his one year molars and almost has the "stomach and eye" teeth in as well. That means less crabbiness for all of us. He's expanding his vocabulary on a daily basis. This week, his favorite is "DOORA." He still struggles with Dada, but he's got that girlfriend's name on the tip of his tongue. He's also climbing and crawling and causing more trouble than we ever knew possible. But with that precious little grin, we're learning to pick up the pieces and ignore the bruises as this "rough and tumble" boy learns his way around.

Ella finally tackled potty training like a pro. I mentioned that I called her school to check on when classes started, etc... and they told me that "all the boys and girls at preschool wear big kid pants. They don't poopy or pee-pee in their pants and they don't wear diapers anymore." That was a suggestion from a school and it worked! She stripped down right there in the kitchen and said "I'm a big girl too! I no wear diapers anymore." and she hasn't. We had a few "accidents" while mommy was in the hospital and then out of town on business. (more on those adventures later) but in the last 2 weeks, she's worn her big girl panties all day long, she's started going on her own without being prompted, she only wears 2 diapers a day for nap and bedtime. It's been a long-time coming, but we couldn't be happier that it's finally happened!

I was in the hospital for a couple of days last month. Remember that whole "you're not having a heart attack" episode? Well, it happened again only this time, they found out why. I have a faster heart rate than I should. It's been that way since I had rheumatic fever in college. (let that be a lesson to never think strep throat can just go away on its own because you're a fun-loving college student!) Anyway, they did a whole battery of tests on my heart, blood and brain, which all came back great! So all they've done is put me on a beta blocker to slow down my heart rate and they say that will take care of things. Scary at the time, but now we know how many things are going well within this body, so that's a relief. We also got another look at the meningioma (brain tumor) and we're waiting to hear the measurements on whether it grew in the last 3 months. My next MRI isn't scheduled until October, so this was just a bonus while they checked other things during that hospital stay.

We're heading off for Minneapolis this weekend to celebrate the fourth with our friends Dane, Dena, Deuce & Dutch! It's sure to be a long car trip for the kids but we've stocked up on snacks, movies, and the potty seat! We're looking forward to a great time!