Scrubs

Hey all you moms out there! I am going to try a little experiment and see how it works.

Recently I was inspired to take inventory of my clothing situation. My friend Erica's blog about her holey jeans made me realize that ALL my jeans are holey, except for one pair. That pair is now becoming "thin" on the knees, and I have been confronted with the task of saving my jeans or trying to find another pair that fits. I don't have time to go try on new jeans. So.

In an effort to save the halfway decent clothes I have from being ruined by floor time, baby food, poop, and paint-that-is-supposed-to-wash-out-but-doesn't; I have invested in two sets of scrubs. That's right. $9.99 for a solid colored matching top and bottom set. The plan is to wear the scrubs around the house, and to only wear good clothes when I am going somewhere. Some days I might be able to wear the scrubs all day. On other days, I may only wear them for a few hours, but what a difference that few hours might make. I could avoid all sorts of nasty things happening to my clothes just within the first hour or two of getting up and making breakfast. Right now this seems like a good idea. Whether or not it works will hinge on two things. 1.) Do the scrubs fit without looking too goofy. 2) Will it be a pain to change in and out of clothes during the day. If this WORKS, however, I will be looking at longer lasting clothes. This will eventually save money and more importantly, the time it takes to do something like try on jeans. Not only will the clothes last longer overall, but in theory, I may not have to wash them as frequently either, saving on laundry. That is a big perk. If I only wear my good jeans an hour or two per day, think how infrequently they would have to go into the wash. Same with shirts, although I am funnier about shirt hygiene. Anyway, I will keep you all posted on this experiment. I hope it goes well. The scrubs should be arriving by FedEx any day now...

Princess Party at Chick-Fil-A

Starting yesterday afternoon, Anna seemed to be feeling a little better. This was great news because we had promised to take her to tonight's highly awaited Chick-Fil-A Princess Party. One of our local franchises thought it would be a good idea to throw a party that involved painting your fingernails, decorating wands, and getting your picture taken with costumed Disney Princesses. Every little girl that came dressed as a princess received a coupon for a free milkshake. On the way to the restaurant I said to Brad (in my ignorance of the appeal of princess parties), "I wonder if we will be the only people that show up in costume?" I was imagining maybe a hand full of families attending, getting weird looks from the rest of the patrons. Boy was I wrong. It was worse than being at Disneyland in June. The line for the activities wrapped all the way around the inside of the building and out the door. The employees were frantically awarding coupons. I was tempted to just leave. However, all of my children were very happy to be there in the mob. For close to two hours we surrounded ourselves with pink and purple balloons and living preschool replicas of every commercialized princess known to video. I need to add that Ben, having felt slightly left out of the pre-party excitement, decided to go as a king. Also, in an appropriate representation of the complexity of her character, Anna opted to wear, not a tiara, but a baseball cap. Go Anna.

Anna Update and Emily Picture

Today we went to the neurologist with Anna. She had been going down hill since Saturday. We determined that her shunt was working correctly but the pressure was too low. So with the help of the "Magnetic Doughnut" we raised her pressure to a normal level. When they replaced the shunt catheter during surgery, they didn't adjust the setting. We had a situation where too much fluid was draining, now that the shunt was unclogged. Over the next few days the pressure in her head should raise and we should see some improvement in the way she feels.

Emily ate her first real meal with the family on Monday. It was Meatball Soup. We had to adjust the recipe a little to accommodate her tummy, but it still tasted fine and she seemed to enjoy it.

Revision Update

Anna came out of surgery a little agitated, but she is doing fine now. We've been out of surgery and in our room for several hours. Needless to say, she has been upset about what is going on, but the doctor confirmed the shunt was partially obstructed, so it was a good choice to do the revision. We will be here overnight and should be discharged sometime on Saturday, as long as there are no complications. By then, Anna may not want to leave because she is getting to watch lots of TV and eat chocolate ice cream.

Shunt Revision

Just a note to let everyone know that Anna goes in for her shunt revision tomorrow (Friday) at 1:00. Actually, we go in at 11, but the surgery is at 1. We knew we would need a revision soon, since the shunt wasn't functioning properly, but we didn't find out until this morning that it would be tomorrow. This time around we will be able to enjoy the new Levine Children's Hospital that is part of CMC. It was under construction during our last surgery.

Easter and The Table

Ok, ok- it's the moment you've all been waiting for. What did we put on that table? Remember the poll? Remember the hype? The time has come for the great reveal.

But first.....

Here's some pictures of the children at Easter, and a little photo I like to call, "You're in trouble now."








And the winner is......

No One!

We got this nifty (free) iPod/CDplayer/Stereo thingy with greenhouse rewards points from FedEx. I think it is actually an Apple product.

Very enjoyable, and in classy Apple style.

We will remove the plastic from the cords. I promise.

Playing Nice

After drying my hair this morning, I proceeded to search for my children who had wandered to the opposite end of the house. They usually take this hair-drying-opportunity and use the white noise to cover up their most destructive projects. I was a little concerned to see the laundry room door closed, but much to my delight, I found them playing nicely together "fixing" Anna's red car. This inspired me to throw some pictures online. I am also including individual pictures of Anna and Emily in their matching flannel dresses. My mom made them in her "spare time" one weekend. Talent.