Maryn's Head Gets Glued, Part III

This girl!!  I wouldn't even call Maryn a daredevil or a rough-and-tumble child, but she always manages to hurt herself. 

This weekend she was playing in the playroom with Wesley and her neighbor bestie, Libby, when all the sudden I heard cries and screams. She ran to the top of the stairs, holding her head, and I could see blood running through her fingers and down her face.  Same scene as the other two times this happened (in 2017 and 2019), same side of the head and everything.  

Fortunately I could see quickly that it was not serious, but the gash was deep enough (and in such a prominent place on her eye brow) that we needed to make a trip to urgent care for some glue.  When you're talking about a pretty girl's face, the goal after a gash is to minimize the scar!!  

Geez Louise, little girl, we need to keep you in a helmet!!

(And, Maryn finally told me what happened: she was trying to pull a blanket out of the stuffed bean bag chair, and she must have pulled with such force that when it finally released she lost her balance and fell back into her play kitchen. The play kitchen has rounded edges - nothing sharp - but she still managed to catch is just right.)

Mayo Check Up - All Good!

James and I have started to visit the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville for our routine, annual check ups.  The physical program is completely top notch and I can't say enough wonderful things about their facilities and medical staff.  In the course of 24 hours I had the following: women's exam and tests, complete blood work, uranalysis, EKG, mammogram, full skin check, stress test, chest xray, and then long conversation with my physician about the results. James had similar. All right there, all one building, all scheduled to be worked quickly in the right order.  So great.

This year we went together so we could enjoy the time away - even if it did include lots of poking and prodding!  Jacksonville is taking Corona very serious, and everywhere demanded masks and distance. We were happy to comply - especially as it meant some delicious food and new restaurants to explore!  After all our visits ended late on the last day, we even moved down to the beach for one more night of R&R. 

Oh, and we also hit up a Trader Joe's, coming back with bags and bags of our favorites (including the best beer out of Jacksonville!)

I would also like to note that our food choices in Jacksonville did not line up with doctor's orders, haha :)

I don't take for granted how fortunate we are for both access to great health care and insurance. Or how thankful we are for good check ups for both of us!    

A Visit from the Paci Fairy...

Two our of three of our Sasser babies have loved their Pacis.  I thought we'd never get Maryn to give hers up (and she was well past three years old before she did!), so you would think that this go around with Wesley we'd stop it sooner. But, nope, like many things with this third child, we're hesitant to do anything that forces him to grow up quicker than he already is.   He's our baby!!!  

And this baby was getting ridiculous about the paci. He used to keep it only in is crib, but the last 6 months it's a constant feature (that and his sleep sack).  He will throw a mean tantrum if it can't come downstairs, and can't face hardly anything without it (nighttime, a car ride, a doctor's appointment, a thunder storm, pooping, a time out, etc).  We made a decision that the time had come to kick this habit once and for all.

This go around we introduced the "Paci Fairy" as someone mystical who brings a big present in exchange for the pacis. This went over well with Wesley, as he loves presents.  I found the PERFECT THING, a massively large garbage truck.  I ordered it, waited patiently, and then received a backorder notification until September 30th.  GRRRRRRRR.  Best laid plans and all...

Thus we just gave up on the Paci Fairy for the time being. Then my parents came, and who wants them to spend their limited grandparent time dealing with a cranky, inconsolable toddler.  Then, lo and behold, I got a shipping notice and the garbage truck arrived ahead of schedule.  The time had come!!!

Let me go on record by saying James was not on board with this.  For being such a strong, firm enneagram 8, he is the first to give in when it comes to these parenting hurdles (pacis, potty training, bedtime drama, etc).  I'm a stickler for rules, discipline, and can withstand whatever these crazies throw at me if it means we reach our goal and finish line.  So what I'm trying to sayis: I knew it was on me to take charge of the paci!

On Friday night last week I said "gather up the pacis, she's coming tonight!"  The kids all got involved (even Wesley) and found a good deal of pacis around the house. I even threw in "the more pacis you find, the bigger the present", and Wesley brought a few more out of his hiding spots. We were ON.  

And, if you can believe it, we had zero drama that night**.  And zero drama the next day. The extra big orange garbage truck blew him away on Saturday morning, and he hasn't asked for a paci since. He has asked about the pacis, but when we say "remember, the Paci Fairy took them to another baby?" he drops the whole thing.  We simply cannot believe our good luck. Wesley was obviously ready.

** while we didn't have tears and tantrums, as I had anticipated, Wesley didn't have an easy time falling asleep and stayed up very late that first night.  The next morning we found that he had gotten up in the middle of the night and into JB's Legos; dumped an entire container of fish food in the tank - killing all the fish!; and caused a major mess in the room.  He's still not napping great, and now getting up around 5AM.  So, whew. Hoping things improve on the sleep front soon!

Sigh...another "baby" milestone passed by our last and final baby.  He's also halfway potty-trained (having mastered #1, not yet #2).  The diapers are about to be out of the house, for good. For the first time in 7 years.  

All these bittersweet moments as our kiddos grow up...but what great kids they're growing up to be!

Maryn Gets Her Ears Pierced!!

What a big milestone in our little girl's life: Maryn got her ears pierced!!!

She's been asking for a while, but I always said "when you're 5 years old". I got mine pierced at five, and I also think that's a good age where she can make a decision for herself.  

This gal is less than a month away from five (whaaaaaaaat?), so she kept reminding me over and over again that it was nearly time.  Then Grammy and Gran Gran came to visit us last week (yea!!!) and Maryn asked "can we go ahead and get them done, so Grammy can go?"  Now, how could I say no to that?  I could not!

So last Saturday, donning our masks and sanitizer, we headed out to the Claire's in the Dublin Mall.  I mean, is there anywhere else to pierce your ears, other than Claire's?  It's a rite of passage!  

First, Grammy had to check out the place (and the girl working it) to make sure she could trust it with her granddaughter's ears.  She warned me and Maryn that we should not commit to anything, but rather inquire about ear piercing until we could get a sense of her skill level. Fortunately the young gal passed the test (2 years of ear piercing at Claire's), plus she was a red head.  

We went back in the afternoon during the shift change to attempt getting both ears pierced at once. The second girl did not show on time (probably better she wasn't there anywhere - Grammy did not trust that flakiness!), but the little red head did a fantastic job with Maryn. Yes, there were some tears, but even after the first one Maryn was committed and sat still for the second.

And, yes, masks were required during the entire thing.  Just another day (and activity) in a global pandemic.  :)

JB went with us, but covered his ears the entire time. Something tells me he would not have sat through the second ear. This tough guy here can hardly handle a shot or finger prick.

Maryn has done so well with the 3X day cleaning. She loves attention and connection of any kind, so she practically begs me to clean her ears. She'd do it on the hour if she could.

Grammy bought Maryn her sparkly pink "diamonds" that they pierced with for her upcoming birthday, now only 3 weeks away.  Goodness, my baby girl is growing up... Such a special day that we will never, ever forget!  

Camps and Such

Although this summer has looked different than most, and we can't do as much as planned, we've carefully and purposefully continued some activities for the kiddos (to keep their little minds and bodies growing and learning.).

First, swimming lessons.  We love the pool and beach, and raising strong swimmers is very important to us.  The kids did GREAT, and even Wesley, in his first year of lessons, warmed up to the idea after a few days. (Unfortunately he missed his last day and the swim show because he came down with strep throat!!)

JB participated in Art Camp for a week, and we were so impressed with how much the instructor was able to with these kiddos.  He really enjoyed it.

While JB went to Art Camp, Maryn participated in "Science Camp".  This girl is super social, so it did her heart good to be around her friends!  And of course she came home with fake snow, slime, all sorts of fun things to get all in the carpet and house. :)

We had the kiddos signed up for another week of camp the last week of July, but then my parents made a decision to trek across the South for a visit.  While I know they would have had a blast, we decided that - for maximum security - to lock down prior to their visit.  And I'm so glad we did, because we had so much fun with Grammy and Gran Gran!!

Precious Visits from Friends!

When you're social distancing and avoiding all crowds and events, a visit from a friend can bring a welcome dose of company and fun!  We've been lucky this month that 3 different families stopped by for a quick day, overnight or weekend visit.

First, some Florida friends stopped by to visit on their way to Lake Oconee. We have not seen them for 5 years - the last time they stopped by I was pregnant with Maryn!!  So we've added 2 kids since their last visit, and their kids have grown so much (and still so sweet, polite, and awesome children/tweens/teens - the kind of kids we hope ours grow up to be!)

And because I love to recreate photos: here is this great crew of kiddos, taken exactly 5 years apart!

The next weekend we celebrated our nation's Independence with the Murphy family!  The kids had a blast at the pool, in the yard, at the land, and just playing together.  The adults had fun catching up (and the grown up boys had a little too much fun and stayed up waaaaaaaaay too late on Saturday night, haha).

I can't believe how quickly these kiddos have grown up. I remember holding Reagan in my arms at the hospital, less than 24 hours old, with JB growing in my belly.  Time...please slow down!!

Some more (not so coordinated) pictures from the weekend, celebrating the fourth and friends.

And then, just this past weekend, Becca and I collaborated quickly on Saturday morning for an impromptu visit - surprising JB and Mac (who were THRILLED!!!). We only got one picture because these two were busy in their adventures most of the day.

I'm not sure how many visits we'll get the rest of the month or summer, with things quickly escalating again with this blasted virus.  Sigh...but we'll take the companionship when we can get it!