A rock? Really?

Today, a Police horse was going to visit Syd’s school and the kids could have their pictures taken on the horse, if they wanted. I knew that the chances of Sydney getting on the horse were slim to none, but I held out hope that she would get on the horse. Somehow, Sydney had gotten it in her head that the horse was going to bite her and she became a little obsessed. Eric and I both tried to reason with her and told her repeatedly that the horse wouldn’t bite her, but once she gets something in her mind it is pointless to argue with her. I hoped that she might give in to a little bit of peer pressure once she saw all of the other kids on the horse and go ahead and have her picture taken. I dropped her off at school and didn’t say anything else about it. I went home and my Mom and I took the babies for a long walk in their zoom buggies. They love those things. Poor Macky kept trying to fall asleep and, even though it was really funny, it was kind of sad. Finally, it was naptime and I was able to relax a little before I had to go and get Syd from school. Then, at 2:00PM, the school called. I knew it wasn’t good. I answered the phone and the director said, “Sydney put a rock up her nose and it is stuck.” My reaction was, “Oh jeez, I’m on my way.” I couldn’t believe she had put a freaking rock up her nose. What the heck was she thinking? I called Eric and told him that the school had called and the first thing he said was, “Oh, no did the horse bite her?” “No,” I said and then told him what happened and promised to fill him in on the details once I got to the school. Once there, the director gave me a flashlight and I could just barely see an orange rock up Syd’s left nostril. I loaded her in the truck and headed to Urgent Care. Once we arrived and signed in, they told us that if they had to use any instruments to get it out that it would be considered a surgical procedure and would be almost $300. I was in shock, $300 to basically use tweezers and pull a rock out of my daughters nose, really? I decided to call the doctor and take her there instead. Eric met us at the doctor’s office. In the meantime, Sydney had sneezed several times. We finally got back to see the doctor and she looked in Syd’s nose and couldn’t find the rock. We looked and looked and we couldn’t find it. Either she sneezed it out or it is so far up in there that she couldn’t see it. Only time will tell. I still can’t believe she stuck a rock up her nose. What a day. The whole parenting thing is really a kick in the pants some days. Its days like this that really could drive me to drink. Let’s hope that tomorrow is a better day or a least a little less eventful.

I love driving my zoom buggy.


I like going for 'drives' around the neighborhood.


Macky thinks Mase is so funny.

Pumpkin Patch

Today we took a family outing to a local pumpkin patch. It was great. It is a 40-acre farm in the middle of this residential area with pumpkins, a corn maze, a few farm animals and slide for the big kids. We let Sydney run around a pick out a few pumpkins and tried and tried to get some good pictures of all three kids, but failed miserably. The babies really liked walking around, but they kept trying to bite all of the pumpkins. I really wanted to do the corn maze, but it was really big and was starting to get hot (I know, hot in the middle of October, but it is Texas) so we decided to skip it this year. We looked at the farm animals, but you couldn’t pet them or anything, so they didn’t hold much interest. As we were leaving the animals, Syd said she needed to use the bathroom. Fortunately, they had port-a-potties available so we headed in that direction. This was Syd’s first experience with a port-a-potty and she was not thrilled. Eric tried taking her first and she came out yelling, “It’s dirty, it’s dirty, I don’t need to go.” I tried not to laugh, because I know my daughter and I could tell that she was a little traumatized by the whole thing. I decided that I would try. I didn’t even get the door open before she started yelling. Luckily, Kiki (my Mom) was with us and came in and saved the day. She was able to talk Syd into going in and taking care of her business. Every one that knows Syd knows that she likes things clean. She doesn’t even like to eat messy things. She is a little OCD, but she comes by it honestly (Sorry Autie & Eric). I will say that as port-a-potties go, these were the cleanest I’ve ever seen. So after the whole potty ordeal, we decided it was lunchtime and headed back down to the pumpkin patch area for a picnic. I had so much fun today just letting the kids walk around and look at all of the pumpkins. The weather was beautiful and the picnic was a perfect way to end the day. We made it home in time for all the kids to take naps and, hopefully, we will be able to watch the Sooner game in peace. Boomer Sooner.

Hello Mr. Scarecrow.


Aren't we cute?


Almost all of us are looking this time.


Hey Macky, let me tell you something.


Looking for trouble.

Columbus Day??

I spent most of my weekend sick in bed, not just because the Sooners lost, but also because I had some sort of upper respiratory infection. Eric picked Syd up from school on Friday and brought home a calendar for the month, but I didn’t think to look at it. Monday morning rolled around way too soon and I managed to get everyone up, dressed, fed, packed Syd’s lunch and loaded everyone in the car, ready to go to school. Luckily, my Mom decided to ride with me so I wouldn’t have to unload all of the kids. We pulled up to Syd’s school and it was very empty. Here was our conversation.

My Mom: Are you sure Syd has school today?
Me: Yes, we are just early (only 8minutes, mind you).
My Mom: Stormi, there are no cars, not even the teachers are here. I bet they are closed for Columbus Day.
Me: Seriously, they close school for Columbus Day? I didn’t even know that was a real holiday. I’m a spaz. I’m calling Eric.
Me: Hey, Eric. Did you know that Syd didn’t have school today?
Eric: No, but it is Columbus Day (and he laughs)

We hung up and I felt like a complete idiot. I can’t believe that I totally overlooked a school holiday and especially on a day when I could have really used it. The only good thing about it was that I was able to take a nap with the kids and they all slept for about 3 hours. It was awesome. I bet I don’t forget that holiday again any time soon.

Doesn't Syd look cute for her not school day?

OU/texas & Kitchen Dancing

Tomorrow is the OU/texas game and I can’t wait. It is one of the games that I look forward to the most every year. When Eric and I were in college, a group of us would get together and drive down to Dallas for the weekend. We would cram 8 people in a hotel room and sleep 3 to a bed, party all night on Friday and then get up early and watch the game at a bar, and then head back to Norman on Sunday. No matter the outcome of the game it was always one of the best weekends of the year. Now that we are older and have kids, the idea of going Downtown and dealing with the crowds, however fun it was, has lost its appeal, and is now a rather scary thought. Eric and I, instead are opting to get a babysitter (the first since we moved to Texas) and go to a bar here in town and watch the first half of the game. Hopefully we will still get some of the fun atmosphere, without all of the crazy, irrational college kids that are Downtown. I’m looking forward to actually watching the game and not having to change diapers and get juice and snacks every ten seconds. This time someone will actually be waiting on us for a change. I can’t wait. Hopefully the Sooners will kick some texas “A” and it will be a good game to watch.
Go Sooners!


On a different note, the other evening I wasn’t feeling too good and neither were the kids, but after dinner Eric decided to start dancing with the girls. They loved it. All three of them had these huge smiles on their faces. It was so cute. It reminded me of when I was a little girl. My Daddy and I used to spend a lot of time dancing in the kitchen. I was lucky enough to get some really cute pictures and videos. I felt sorry for Mason just sitting there so I decided to take him for a spin. He loved it. After dinner and dancing it was bath time and the fun continued. There are some really cute pictures that I just had to share.

Eric dancing with his girls.


Dancing with my boy baby.


Daddy did our hair!

I'm a clean ball.

We run for Kiki!

We did Race for the Cure last weekend and it was awesome. There were 20 of us walking for my Mom. Each year, it seems like there are more and more people that join us. This year, my Mom’s friend Vicki, who is also a survivor, came down with her daughter, son-in-law and new grandson. Vicki used to coach my sister and her oldest daughter in coach-pitch softball. She was diagnosed shortly after my Mom. It was so good to see her and her family. I haven’t seen them in forever.

We all gathered together in front of the UPS package car (that’s for you Autie) and assembled our troops, which consisted of 12 adults and 9 children. All of the mom’s packed different breakfast food and we swapped and shared until all of the kids were happy and fed and ready for the race. We waited until most of the group of 16,000 had dissipated before starting the race. It is really hard to navigate three strollers and keep track of 4 big kids in a crowd that large. We planned to do the 5k, but ended up taking a short cut so we probably did about a 3.5K. The big kids really enjoyed ‘running’ the race and I think the babies liked looking at all of the people run past them. The race ended with the Survivor’s Ceremony, which is still one of my favorite parts of the whole day. This year my Mom and Vicki were standing next to a woman who was 85 years old and a 49-year Survivor and she wasn’t even the oldest. The oldest was 87 years old. I couldn’t believe it. We ended the day with lunch and then all parted ways to go home and take naps.

I realized something on this trip that I’ve known for a while, but just never took the time to think about. Our friends are more than friends; they are our family and I love them. Our kids are very comfortable around each other and it makes it very easy to be in large crowds because there are so many adult eyes looking out for every one. There is always an extra hand or someone there to help out. It’s really like being in a big family. We are so lucky to have these friends.

On Sunday, Eric and I decided to do a little brainwashing and take the kids to campus. We got lunch and found a spot in front of Carpenter Hall and had a picnic. Afterwards, the kids were able to run around and enjoy the beautiful weather. Eric and I both really want our kids to have fun memories of going to campus. We had a great time walking around and even brought home a few OU goodies.

The family of five before the race.




Check out those Mommies!


The big kids (Jacob, Ethan, Syd & Braeden) & Mr. Ross take a water break.



Vicki & Kiki at the finish line.





Enjoying Campus



Mason's first haircut

Oklahoma

I’ve spent the last day packing and trying to get ready for our trip to Oklahoma. For the past couple of years we have gone to Oklahoma to participate in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. Why do we go all the way to Oklahoma when there are plenty of other races a lot closer? Well, a few reasons. We feel a special bond to Oklahoma. My Mom was diagnosed and completed all of her treatment there. We also have a lot of close friends and family that live there, that we like to have join us at the race. This year with kids and adults there are going to be about 20 people walking in support of my Mom. How cool is that? I know it means a lot to her. I remember the first year at the race. My Mom had finished radiation in March and had a hysterectomy in July and we came down from Missouri in October for the race. It was very overwhelming. All of the survivors wear pink shirts or pink hats, so that they stand out in the crowd, and there were so many of them. My Mom finally had hair again, although short, it was there. I remember thinking, “All of these people have gone or are going through what we just did.” It kind of bonds all of you together. At the race people put on their shirts I walk ‘In memory of’ of ‘In support of’ and that was really touching. There were a lot of people with their Mom’s, Grandma’s, Aunt, or Sister’s name on their shirts. The day ends with the ‘Survivor’s Ceremony’ where all of the Survivors are asked to come on to the ball field and they ask for the oldest survivor and the youngest survivor. The oldest one, I think was in her eighties and she had fought it 3 times, and the youngest was in her twenties. I was in shock that someone in there twenties could have breast cancer, it really hit home for me. They end the ceremony with a song and it was very touching, almost spiritual. Here, you are surrounded by all of these strangers, yet you are linked by this terrible disease. Even though the day is emotional and we have to get up early, which is getting harder and harder, with the addition of the babies, I wouldn’t miss it for the world. My Mom is so proud that we are all there together and supporting her and it makes it all worth it. I’m looking forward to the race and I’ll post pictures when we get back on Wednesday.

Remember, early detection is the best prevention.

Think Pink

Many of you know that my Mom is a breast cancer survivor. I wanted share the story of the day she was diagnosed.

Thursday August 4, 2005
My Mom went in for a mammogram and they found a lump in her right breast. She was then sent in for an ultrasound, which confirmed the lump and gave the doctors a clearer picture of the size and location. The radiologist then performed a needle biopsy, where they inserted a needle into her breast and removed tissue in order to examine it under a microscope to determine if, in fact, it was cancer. The radiologist told my Mom that because of the location, her age (45) and the fact that she was pre-menopausal that she was 99% sure it was cancer, but that she would have the official report back on Friday. My Mom called Eric, who was at home with Syd, and he talked to her the whole way home. Her next call was to me. I remember getting a call at work and thinking, “Oh no, something must be wrong with Syd.” I’ll never forget the panic in my Mom’s voice when she said, “The doctor thinks I have breast cancer.” I felt like all of the wind had been knocked out of me. I couldn’t get out of work fast enough. I had just received the worst news of my whole life. What did this mean? How bad was it? Oh, my poor Mom. What are we going to do? I had only been back from maternity leave for two weeks. Syd was a tiny baby (She was just over 3 months old). I finally got to my Mom’s and gave her the biggest hug of my life. Thankfully, the doctor had left her number and offered to let my sister and I call and ask her any questions we wanted. We did, and afterwards I felt a little more informed, but still really scared. We still weren’t sure the stage or the exact type, but we would know for sure the next day. So Friday finally arrived and we got the dreaded phone call that confirmed what the doctor had suspected. My Mom had Stage 2 Infiltrating Ductal Carcinoma. The next step would be to contact an oncologist and a surgeon, but those are stories for a different day.

I’m planning on sharing different stories from each stage of my Mom’s fight against breast cancer. I will also mix is a few funny kid stories to keep it light, but I want the focus this month to be on breast cancer awareness.