The Tree

Last week we bought a Christmas tree and soon followed with decorating. If you can tell, there are a lot of ornaments right around Mason/Colby height. It currently still lacks a star at the top as our star (passed down from my grandmother) broke a year or more ago and I can't seem to find a suitable replacement. It might another starless year. I did have the idea of maybe letting Mason make a tree topper. I feel this plan is best saved for a rainy, whiney day.

A couple days ago I also added a few presents and am amazed that they are still unharmed and not even asked about. It makes me wonder if the children are feeling well.

Success!!

Pee Pee on the Potty... Pee Pee on the Potty... Pee Pee on the potty!!!! (And some pooh, but I think that might have been hanging there before she sat down.)

For clarification, that's Colby. The rest of us also poohed and peed on the potty today, but it's just not as exciting when we do it.

Let me back up a little here. She's really starting to take an interest in the potty again this last week or so, with a much greater interest the last couple of days. (Of course this all happens right after I stock up on diapers.) I just kept thinking that if she'd just go once on it she'd put it together. We'll see what happens tomorrow as the pee pee on the potty was right before bed time. Also, yesterday she even had "baby" sit on it.


Update on the eye:
The next day

Today


As I reread thru this post I realize that I probably have too much time on my hands and too much time on the couch. I am happy to say that I am making some good progress and have even started some rehab stuff that I found online. (Yes, my ortho MD asked me to increase ROM in the knee, but didn't tell me how.)

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving day started with a little sleeping in as both kids had gone to bed late the previous night. (Doesn't always lead to sleeping in, but man are we excited when we get those extra 20 minutes!) Then it was a late breakfast followed by much cooking. Kevin made some wonderful chipotle sweet potatoes and the kids (and I) made two apple pear pies. Then lunch and naps. Too bad only one person actually napped. Thanksgiving dinner at the Freeman's was to start around 2 or 3, so around 5 we sat down to eat. It was a wonderful spread of turkey, ham and all things casseroled. Not to be the only ones eating the wonderful food, we dropped some off at the hospital for Jeff and Marie. Then, another late night for the kids, and another sleeping in AM. (Odd) Back to Ann Arbor for breakfast and window hanging. Then a brief visit home and off to Grand Rapids. The thought was that at least Colby would nap on the way there as it was already past her nap time. Yeah... no such luck. The next day was dinner with my family. Also very yummy. After dinner the kids ran around a bit outside, Colby took a late nap and dinner and off we left for home. Another late night for the kids, but they both had such a wonderful time playing with Caleb! They were all just constantly playing and running around together. It was kind of nice, they all just played and didn't require much adult interaction; well, aside from the occasional loud noise investigation.

On the way home, Mason slept.

And again Colby was wide awake the whole trip.

It didn't take long for the kids to adjust back to schedules. Thankfully they are still both sleeping in a bit. (Doesn't work as well on school days as we found out this AM.) Mason's first day back to school was a little rough as we forgot to put some shoes in his bag and he had to wear socks all day, which in turn lead to him having to sit out for gym class. Kevin also had an interesting day at work and lost a small fight with the ambulance door.

(Some of the identifying features have been carefully cut out in order to protect Kevin's HIPPA rights.)

It's official...

I have an acl tear and a possible meniscus tear as well. After much talk and a referral to another MD, the MD stated if you are an athlete, we'd do surgery, a couch potato and we'd just fit you for a brace and do physical therapy. I of course didn't want to officially admit to my couch potato status, so surgery is scheduled for Dec 18th. =) Ok, so there's more to it than that, but the other parts just aren't as funny.

As a side note, my ortho MD just stated an acl tear and didn't specify any further. I also had the MRI results sent to my primary MD office. They told me that the results showed a complete acl tear. I feel better about making the surgery decision.

Knee

So... nothing exciting from the ortho MD. We wait for an MRI, then another week to get back in to see the MD for results and the plan. This did buy me another wonderful, fun-filled week on the couch. yay?

Updates

Looking back I noticed that it's been a little while since I've updated ya'll on life in the Freeman household. Lately I'm finding myself with a lot of free time on the couch (more on that later) so here we go!

Mason: He's reading up a storm! It's been great. We've gone to him reading us a book at night. With increased reading also comes the increase in writing words. Funny moment, Mason insisted that love was actually spelled "luv" as that is how it sounds; he told Kevin that he was wrong. =) Conferences with his teacher went very well, no complaints and he's transitioning into life as a school kid well. His bus driver asked me the other day if he was always this good natured. He still has a bit of a cough, but it does seem to be better after antibiotics... still toying with this asthma diagnosis.

Colby: She decided 3-4wks ago that she was no longer going to sit on the potty AT ALL. Not that she was using it or anything before that, but she would at least briefly sit on it. No longer. However, her vocabulary just took off!! She has new words consistently and will repeat most of what she hears. Also, she is putting many words together and really working on speaking in sentences. Just amazing how they regress in one area to jump so far ahead in another. As for potty stuff... the last couple of days she's told us as she's pooping and has requested to go on the potty. Daddy had a fab time cleaning the carpet yesterday. Apparently Colby sat on the potty mushing pooh on her bum, then got up and ran down the hall and tripped smearing pooh on the carpet. Ahhhh... gotta love kids.

And as for Kevin and I, we continue to work on maintaining our sanity. Kevin is still doing some computer stuff for a local company on a VERY part-time basis, but hey it's a start! Me, I'm stuck on the couch for a bit as I've injured my knee playing volleyball. We'll learn the extent of injury on Tues after I visit with the ortho MD.

My dad continues to hang out with us during the week which has really been a great help with kitchen cleaning and babysitting. And this week, we'll be doing dinner at both families. Busy times ensue! I would post some pics but I am in the process of picking out Christmas card and don't want to ruin the surprise.

Happy Halloween

Halloween went wonderfully. Both kids were on best behaviors and looked adorable as we trick or treated through Dixboro. Colby even walked the whole way! Kevin and I are totally ok that 6 houses still seem like enough for the kids and, we had to drag them to the last two. After walking up and down the street, we settled at Dick and Glynda's for some warm cider and a small bonfire. All in all, a very pleasant evening.