My car is leaking oil, like a lot of oil. It looks like someone dumped oil all over our garage floor. In addition to that my air conditioning is going out, the breaks squeak, the car doesn't go into park very well and then in about 2 months from now my car will no longer allow me to turn off the emergency brake when parked on a hill. Therefore, I can't drive my car if I put the emergency brake on. It might be time to get a new car, unfortunately.
Photo dump of pictures of Brooks this month. There have been some warmer days where he went out and practiced some basketball. He made a guitar out of a cardboard box and continues to be our easiest kid to get to sleep at night.
Hallie finished up another basketball season. She continued to be the best on the team and I don't think she learned a single thing this season. In fact, towards the end, she refused going to basketball practice because she said it was so easy and boring. I don't blame her. We will have to see if we can get her in something more competitive in the future.
I sure love my cute, crazy and wild kids! Being a mom forces you to have balance and perspective that I would have lacked otherwise. Juggling schedules, work and never feeling like I am doing enough is a constant in my life but the ups and downs of motherhood are somehow smoothed over by the love and joy my kids give me. I love being a mom, their mom. Motherhood is my most important, most difficult, and most soul-filling work and I'm grateful for how it blesses me.
Shirt hat!
Russ painted and bolted in the top portion of our lockers this month. They are looking so good! Russ is seriously incredibly talented at carpentry and finish work!
While Stockton had his surgery, Joe and Becky watched our older kids so we could both be at the hospital with Stockton. I am so grateful they did that. They played card games, went to the park and went to McDonald's for lunch.
Stockton has had this growth on his belly since at least 4 months of age (at least that is when I noticed that it wasn't exactly like the eczema that he already had on his skin). It is actually really ugly looking It looks like finger-like warts come out of his belly. At age 1 we went to a dermatologist and they biopsied it. It is an epidermal nevus, a fancy word for a birth mark. The only way to get rid of it is so put him under and excise it. So, we have waited on it.
Occasionally he picks at it but honestly it is just gross looking. He has started taking his shirt off more and more to be like his big brother, Brooks. We didn't want anyone to pick on him because he has this growth and we didn't want him to not want to take his shirt off in public because he is self-conscious. So, in December, we scheduled to have it removed.
Today was the day to get it removed. We went to Primary Children's Hospital to put him under anesthesia. I have been nervous about this day for a long time. Mainly because we have had struggles with his airway in the past and I guess I have some PTSD around that. However, God knew what he was doing when I got my current job at Primary's. I work in the exact department he would be going through surgery. I knew the doctor's taking care of him and knew he would be getting the best care. Another testament to me that God is aware of me and aware of my anxiety triggers and aware of the future and me starting this job back in October was no coincidence.
The best part about this surgery is it is considered "minor" so I was able to go back to the procedure room with him while he was put to sleep. I help his hand and let him watch "trucks" (monster trucks on YouTube) while he fell asleep. Some parents might not like that but I liked that I could be with him the whole time he fell asleep and there was no separation anxiety from him.
The surgery lasted about 45 minutes. He woke up great and was ornery like his normal self. Haha! We were told to keep him from climbing on things and doing things where he would potentially fall but that was pretty much impossible. After a good afternoon nap he was acting like himself and it was hard to keep from laying low.
He never seemed to be in any pain. He would occasionally try to itch his "owie" but overall did great with not pulling the bandage off. The first night he laid his burp cloth (a big comfort item for him) over his owie as he fell asleep. Later in the week, he even found a heart sticker and placed it right over his owie bandage to make it feel better. Cutest thing ever!
I'm glad the surgery is over with, as I really do think that later on in life Stockton would have wanted this birth mark removed anyways. However, I'm not happy with the scar that is left. I mean it is better then the wart-like birth mark but I don't think the doctor did a great job at stitching it together. First of all, the scar is way thick and big and there is a lot of tracking marks indicating she pulled way to tight to get the skin to be together. I don't know how else you do it but the appearance of the scar isn't great. Hopefully it will fade a lot with time and good after care and won't be too noticeable going forward. Either way, I'm glad we got it done and Stockton handled everything like a champ!
Happy Valentine's Day to my 5 loves (including Rosie)! We did all our traditional things. We heart attacked the kids' doors. Russ wrote most of them this year because I was just too tired to do so after a long day at work. The kids got candy and Russ got a levitating shoe display to bring to his office at work. The kids had a great time at school exchanging valentine's with their classmates. Hallie picked pre-made soccer valentine box to assemble and Brooks picked a funny hamburger emoji valentine box.
We ended the night with a candlelight spaghetti dinner, cookie decorating and a big family snuggle. I sure love my family. They make my world go around!
