The Day Everything Broke...But We Laughed

This week flew by.  So many things packed into four days after the holiday weekend.  Besides the usual therapies we had Logan's yearly cardiology checkup and 3 year well check.  The cardiology appointment seemed to take for.ev.er.  They always do an EKG, but this time they did an ECHO too.  I'm SO happy to report that the little hole that was in Logan's heart is completely gone and he had no evidence of any irregularities at all!  YESSS!

He was really good and was so interested in the pictures of his heart.  I've said this before, but his pediatric cardiologist is thebomb.com.  Seriously.  He is all kinds of amazing.  He must study every aspect of the charts before he enters the exam room or he has a photographic memory.  Either way it always leaves me in awe.  We just talk about new technologies in cardiac medicine, genetics, and basically shoot the shit like he has all the time in the world for us.  He remembers things I don't even remember and asks about things I never would have remembered, especially being a busy specialist and seeing a patient once a year.  It's truly outstanding care.  He's golden.  Logan jumps right in his lap (he's not overly cutesy with the kids either, it's so strange that Logan and Izzy love him so much) and high fives him and wants horsey rides.  He just has a gift. 

EKG stickies make pretty amazing fingernails.

Thursday we frantically tried to get the SUDC fundraising page up and taking donations with Matt and Lindsay's charity event coming up next weekend.  We did it and I am blown away by the support we've received!  I am honored to be friends and family with such kind and generous people.  One of the SUDC staff members I've been in contact with emailed me yesterday and was like 'This is amazing!  The donations just keep rolling in!'  The thought of organizing a benefit has been very overwhelming to us.  Having to solicit donations and ask for 'stuff' from businesses is something I've never been good at and the thought of having to do it while telling our story is pretty terrifying for so many reasons.  I'm so thankful that it's finally being done.  SO thankful.

Super Logan!

Today we had therapy, playgroup (at a friend's pool, yikes!) and then Logan's 3 year well check.  Everything looks good.  Dr. Frank was very hesitant to give a referral for the developmental pediatrician last year.  He actually told me 'I'm 100% confidant that Logan does not have autism.'  Honestly, if Dr. Frank didn't specialize in pulmonology we would have switched doctors.  I rely on him so much for advice and guidance with Isabel's asthma.  He has really been a wealth of knowledge in that area.  I know his strengths and weaknesses and work around them.  I told him that we've been seeing Dr. Fasci and that Logan is in therapy and he was sort of like 'well, there is a wide range of normal.'  :-/

Monday I saw that the upper rack of our dishwasher had been loaded incorrectly and a couple of tension clips to hold the rack onto the rollers had totally snapped off.  It's usable, but I need to try and order the parts for that.  Lovely.

So last night our microwave went out in a blaze of glory.  It was super impressive.  I was near the laundry room when the ignition happened and was leaping over kiddos and the dog trying to turn it off.  By the time I got there the damage was done.  It was fried.  I still don't know what happened.  I suppose there was a tiny piece of wrapping paper from the butter I was melting that maybe had metal in it?  It was a seemingly paper wrapper, so I'm not sure.  Anyway, there is a hole in the magnetron thingy.  It is totally done.  The problem is that the space for a the microwave is very odd.  It's a huge PITA trying to find ones that fit.  You're thinking 'how hard can it be?'  That's exactly what I thought when Brian told me....then I saw what he was talking about.  ugh.  Anyway, I need a microwave!  Heating things on the stove and in the oven is not fun.  I sort of feel like I'm camping.  Or in a 1950s movie.

That's not good.

Then, an hour later our freaking washing machine breaks.  Yes Dad, we know you told us about the problem.  Brian fixed it temporarily and is ordering parts for it.  Thankfully it's working now.

No big deal though.  It's all just stuff.  I'm just happy Logan had good checkups and is a healthy boy.  And that we are definitely reaching our fundraising goal before the fundraiser!!!!!

We have a fun weekend ahead!  Hopefully I'll get some more of Logan's birthday pictures posted soon.

I forgot to mention the best part of the day. Izzy and Logan running around the doctor's office yelling 'cock!' 'cock!' 'cock!' while pretending they were roosters. Yeeeep.

Isabel's Recital and Logan's 3rd Birthday Party! Part 1

We had an amazing weekend here in Austin!  Friday started off great with therapy, RAIN, and picking up Matt and Lindsay from the airport.  The rain continued and then Grandma and Grandpa arrived.  Brian's office closed early and he got home around 3pm (yay!) and then Grammy and Papaw arrived.

Saturday morning it continued to rain....in Austin(!)  It was so great and any other weekend I would have loved it, but this weekend I needed some sun and nice, typical Austin weather.  It was very damp and humid on Saturday morning.  We packed up and drove the 30 minutes to the recital location for Isabel's very first dance recital!  She was SO so excited.  I was backstage Mom.  I stayed with the girls throughout the show and tried to keep them happy.  They were actually very well behaved and easy to deal with.  At one point one of the other Moms in the dressing room says 'wow, look at that little girl's tap shoe.  It's totally broken.'  I was like 'oh wow, that stinks.'  Then I realized it was Izzy!  The entire sole of her tap shoe was almost off!  We tried gluing it with eyelash adhesive (the only thing we could find) but that didn't work.  I frantically asked around and finally found a little girl that wore the same size shoe and was a few numbers ahead of Isabel and borrowed her tap shoes for Isabel.  What are the odds that her tap shoe breaks the DAY of recital?!  Don't answer that.

There were genuine heartfelt smiles on stage.  That made the entire year of dance worth it.  Isabel was so very happy to be onstage with her best friend performing her dance.  It was so cute to watch and I laughed the entire time watching her.  Luckily Grandpa has video of the performance and we watched it Saturday night.  So stinking cute.  She even got this trophy at the end.  How cute is that?!  It was a special memory that I will never forget.

After the recital we went back home to prepare for Logan's birthday party.  It finally stopped raining and was looking like it just might clear up!  We had a fruit salad, pasta salad, quinoa salad, pizza, chips and dip, crackers and brie and, of course, cake, ice cream and cupcakes at the party.  I tried not to stress out too much over the party, especially since most of the people attending were family, but it was still a little stressful.  Luckily I had a ton of help setting up.  We had a bounce house set up in the back yard and Logan's little school buddies came over and jumped and played and had fun.  I think it was a great party.  Logan and his friends had fun and I call that a win.

The weather was great and almost everyone bounced until the company came to take away the bounce house that evening.  It was funny, the guys had to kick all of the adults out when it was time to deflate.

Buzz Lightyear!

The Claw!

What party would be complete without it?!

Pin the tail on Bullseye.

Woody and Buzz.

Logan's present from Grandma.  Amazing!!!!

Brothers.

The trophy.

Playing Cards Against Humanity at midnight.

Party Planning

This week has been all about cleaning and party planning.  I cleaned for about 4 hours yesterday.  It was brutal.  I had a little break in between and took Logan for his 1 week post op appointment with the dentist.  Everything is looking pretty good.  His front 4 teeth still show red around the gums, but the gums around his molars are looking pink and healthy.  We go back in a month.

I've been doing deep cleaning.  Baseboards, walls, windows, etc etc.  It stinks because nobody really notices it, but it needs to be done.  It also stinks because I had the upstairs 100% clean and then today it looks filthy again.  Sigh.

Today I tackled party supply/present/etc shopping.  I was determined not to spend too much money, but I just kept spending like I had money (hahahahah.  we all know that's not true).  We had 3 'regular' birthday presents to buy and then 2 little dance teacher gifts.  It adds up!  Sheesh.

Tank got a haircut today and it got Logan confused.  Must have really been time for a haircut because Logan didn't recognize him!  He was like 'where is big Tank?'  I had to explain to him that 'little Tank' is still the same Tank, just with less fur.  I love that dog.

Disney on Ice and the V8 Aussie Supercars

We had a fun, packed weekend.  Saturday started off with the Disney on Ice show in Cedar Park.  We got there early and walked around the stadium/arena.  We found our seat and the show started right on time at 11:30am.  At 12:15pm I was clapping and thinking, 'wow, that was a nice, fun, fast show.'  Until I realized that it was just intermission.  So we had potty breaks and went back to our seats for the 2nd half of the show.  The kids did great.  The 2nd half was completely "Toy Story" themed, so Isabel was losing interest with about 15 minutes left.  She did fine, but needed to be reminded to STFU a few times.  Overall it was a fun show, but if it was 30 minutes shorter I wouldn't have minded.

After the show we went and had lunch.  Everyone was pretty starving since it was almost 2pm by the time we got out of the parking lot.  After lunch we went home and Mom has a nap.  Nobody else seemed to be on the nap train though.

Sunday we did yard work and then Brian and Logan headed off the the V8 super car races at the Circuit of the Americas.  Logan was SO excited all morning and kept asking to go see the race cars.  Brian packed up the backpack and they headed out around 11am.

Isabel and I painted our nails and toes.  Isabel requested a pink, purple and red striped pattern.  After our mani/pedis we went to the mall to return something and grab a quick lunch before seeing "The Croods" at the movie theater.  It was a cute movie and Isabel was entertained the entire time.  We got there 12 minutes late and missed all of the previews.  I think that helped with her attention span.  She was getting pretty frigidity at the end, but hung in there.  Isabel LOVES LOVES LOVES popcorn.

We came home and she played in the pool while I pulled weeds.  I cooked us some dinner and we had a picnic in the family room while watching "Ni Hao Kai-Lan,"  the kids' new favorite show.  It's about Chinese culture and language and the kids love it!  It's so funny hearing them speak in Chinese.