the vivians & a raja report

today was our return appointment for neurosurgery and another ct. can you believe this big girl is SUCH a pro that again (yep, this is our third ct in a month) she didn't need to be strapped down!! she just held perfectly still and sang abc's, victor viggo, and (of course) hannah montana with her silly mommy!! the radiology tech (ironically also named vivian) was SO proud. she couldn't help but brag on her!!

next it was on to see dr. raja. let me just say, i have known ALOT of surgeons...ALOT!!! and this one, he is just amazing! i cannot believe how his mannerisms remind me of my dear friend, dr. srini. he is just so kind and gentle with vivian....and concerned with not just the big picture (correcting the fracture), but the small one as well (how he took the time to perform ALL subcutaneous sutures for minimal scarring). i have NO doubt, he was working with guidance from god. what a blessing. and speaking of BIG blessings: we are ALL CLEAR! ct, as read by raja, looks great, incision looks great, no more anti seizure meds, no more antibiotics, and no more swimming. ok, so i could have done without that last one...but i'll live! ;) unless there are complication, we are free to resume normal life after an additional 6 weeks. praise god!!!

the good, bad, and hilarious.

normally this is where i give a little weekend review about all the fun and exciting things we did....well....yeah....here's how it went:

the bad: friday afternoon i was letting the cableman (yep, broke again) out the front door, when it accidentally got stuck...and then proceeded to shatter into a million shards of glass. no biggie i thought, we can get a new one at lowe's. nope. custom order has to be sent out. sigh....at least no one was hurt.

the good: while clif and i cleaned up glass, all the neighborhood kids discovered our "hill". one side of our front yard is perfect for rolling...or rather, sliding, rolling, scooting, and all other kinds of goodness! and the big kids were so sweet and gentle to both vivian and bauer. it reminded me so much of the great times we had as kids on cornflower.

more good: that night after thorough baths, we tried out b's new pjs. yep, that's batboy. is he trying to fly into his crib? i think so...

but wait, someone else has a super power. i think it might be the "super pose"! ;)

the bad: saturday clif had to work a little so the kids and i were going to take it easy. as most of you know i have a super power of my own. super sniffer. when i opened the fridge that morning, i KNEW we had trouble. the light was on, but it wasn't. (sigh #2.) trying to get a repairman on saturday is a challenge but i managed, AND i put all the food in the fridge downstairs. crisis diverted (or so i thought).

the hilariously insane: as we are getting ready to go out, i grab something out of the second fridge and realize it is WET, and i am standing in a puddle! fridge #2 is down, too!!!! AAAAGH!!! luckily the repair man made a quick temporary fix, and ordered the correct part for it, too!!

the good: that night, which incidentally was an AMAZING 80 degrees, we had free tickets to see the travs with the adams. let's face it...we HAD to get out of the house, it was falling down around us! ;) bauer enjoyed some daddy time.

vivian enjoyed some more posing time. :)

and even monkey see monkey do, joined in...

we had fun seats on the berm, so the kids could watch the pitchers warm up. (don't they look like twins in this picture, scary.)

they even gave him a ball (maybe so he would stop screaming "bball, bball, BBALL!!!"), obviously he loved it!

and speaking of loved, we ran into sweet little emily clark (who was in our wedding), and is now a travelers halo. isn't she gorgeous, and all grown up?!

even more, good: and speaking of gorgeous, on sunday (in between church meetings), i headed to a great baby shower for meagan harvey (pictured with her mother, juju). she is having twins in september and looks AMAZING!

everything was too cute...su was one of the hostesses, and did a great job!

so in the final count, good won...and like i said at least no one got hurt, well....except our poor pocketbook. ;)

supergirl

my supergirl, holding her new supergirl barbie. sent with four lovely letters, all now tucked safely away in her baby book. thanks benderlings....you made the day SUPER!!!! we love you, too!!!! :)

what to do...

when everyday of your summer vacation has been spent at the pool, and now you aren't allowed to get wet....what are you do to? well.....

sometimes, you watch movies, and read books from the library.

sometimes you go to the museum and put on performances with your friends. (vivian even announced: "ladies and gentleman, the show will now begin.")
and sometimes, just sometimes, you dress your little brother up like john travolta and sing hannah montana songs while standing on the couch.

oh yeah....

and there is even choreography (apparently)...

seriously...we NEED to get out of the house more!! ;)

the post "a.a."

this past weekend we attempted to return to our normal life...or as normal as possible after a traumatic brain injury! ;) i must say a very witty woman said to me, "i KNOW you are hugging your kids a little tighter nowadays!" honey, you have NO idea. someday (because this blog is my documentation on my children's lives) i will have an entire post about what happened, but for now, it is just too fresh. i will say this: i consider myself a woman of science AND faith. often the two are hard to mesh....but last sunday night, without a doubt, we witnessed a miracle. the statistics of science\medicine were against us, but god was with us, and what an amazing, generous, and good god he is. thanks again for all of your prayers....we couldn't have made it without them!! and now, back to your regularly scheduled daily dose of day children... :)

saturday was vivian's bff ruby's birthday, and we helped celebrate with a barbie brunch.

it was really cute and very girly, but the brothers didn't seem to mind, they just sported their matching pink polos, and hung with each other. ;)

also on saturday, was sweet caroline's 1st bday, unfortunately for us it was a water-themed party (yep, THE booboo can't get wet) so we had to skip it. we did stop by beforehand and give the bday girl her gift, and amy sweetly had cookies, cupcakes and goody bags ready for the kids. bauer loved his glasses, but was so worn out from partying with his buddy, trip, that when we got home this is what we found. :)

and speaking of booboos not getting wet, here is my latest "mommy trick"....how do you get a 3 1/2 year old to hold still while you wash her hair in the kitchen sink? BRIBERY!!! (yep, i'm not above it!) happy kiddo+washed hair=happy mommy.

a post "b.a."

a quick recap for the last part of june and first part of july. (aka before accident.)

every SINGLE day this was our mo. we got up, were at the pool for private swim lessons by 9:30. swam until around 11, ate picnic lunch, played until one, came home ate popcorn (while watching scooby doo), and napped. what a SPECTACULAR life!!!!

don't ya think?!

occasionally we would mix it up....with playdates with friends, museum visits, or...

an old school nintendo tournament. i am talking rc proam, original mario, and tetris folks.

such intensity!!!! ;)

daddy day recap

actually, it was more like a weekend, than just a day ('cause that's how long it takes to celebrate our fantastic dad!! hehee)!!! we started on saturday, and went to this place called playtime pizza. basically it is a huge arcade with an INDOOR race track, mini golf, bumper cars, etc. we stuck to the simple stuff, but won over 400 tickets (which turns out to be worth about four peices of candy...but about two and a half hours of fun...not a bad trade.)

clif and vivian had a VERY serious water gun race, and then he bestowed upon his daughter the infinite wisdom that has been passed down for generations....
the secrets of being an air hockey god (or goddess)!

on sunday daddy picked our lunch spot (believe it or not, it wasn't the q), outback. it was a wonderful weekend, filled with the greatest gift....time with our favorite guy. happy father's day, #17....we love you!!!!

nebraska or bust....vacation 2009

finally....after a MONTH i was able to find a little extra time to organize the vacation pictures. i know it might seem odd we spent our summer vaca in nebraska....BUT, my dear sweet yankee cousin cathy lives there with her family...and well, we have been dreaming about getting our kids together, since, well.....we were kids!! ;) it was a wonderful trip!!! we stopped overnight in kansas city....

i guess you could say somebody loves free pancake breakfast...huh?!

maybe even more than one somebody?

please don't ask me why, but miss vivian MUST have her picture taken by any and every fountain. i am always happy to oblige! :)

and of COURSE, we swam in the pool....

have we ever passed up an opportunity to wear our swimsuits? (the day's would disown us, for sure!)

next it was on to fritz's. this little restaurant delivers food to your table via train. it is a child's DREAM!

they also have complimentary conductor hats for all the little ones...

and big ones...i do believe he is even making choochoo noises. ;)

and the food wasn't bad either! we also visited the crayola store and stocked up on lots of cool stuff, however we were on a mission....nebraska here we come!!!

nebraska...day one

we made it (only nine hours) to the benders...and can you believe they put on a special bubble show just for us?

bauer instantly bonded with luke,

and i think the girls kind of liked each other too.

after quick snacks...

it was time to change into matching dresses (courtesy the benders) and head to bobbie's for dinner. while the kids played in the backyard...

tommy took it upon himself to teach vivian some of natalie's softball moves...

now you all know i'm no sports enthusiast, but folks...that looks like one serious batter to me!

after a yummy dinner with "special bobbie made chocolate milk",

we headed to the kid's school playground....and this was the scene at the hotel not too long after we arrived.

isn't that how you measure a successful vacation?! ;)