12 months later

A girl from my Mothers of Multiples group posted a note to our forum - one of her triplets had a seizure of unknown origin. My name was thrown out as a point of contact for neurologists, tests and someone who understands.
Remember when I told you that if Ana didn't have another seizure in a year that she was likely home free?
The year has past. *insert cheer here*

I'm sorry for my friend who now has the worries and the stress that follows any parent with a sick or hurt child. My heart breaks for her and a few other friends who are falling asleep to the sounds of their minds spinning out of control with stress for their child.

Brad and I talked about Sam's daughter and thought back to last year.
This time last year, we had dodged a hurricane, I broke my arm on a family vacation, Ana had a seizure and Brad was on disability. When you consider losing your home or a broken arm the least of your worries, you're probably having a bad year. Like my friend Will says, "if you have a neurologist on speed-dial, life is not going according to plan..."

I'm so thankful for every good day we have right now.
Every day is good.

Life is good when your biggest worry is telling your husband that "Twilight" is the next movie to arrive in your Netflix que.
Life is good when your biggest aggravation is waiting for the rain to stop long enough to install a swing set in the back yard.
Life is good when your worry about putting your little girls to sleep isn't if she'll be okay in the morning... the worry is if she'll make you read that Dr. Doolittle book AND the Teen Titans book... for the billionth time.

Life is good when you don't even care that it is raining at Seaworld, because you know that Shamu will get you anyways and you brought a change of clothes.


Life is good.

Catching up on adventures

The past few months have been filled with adventures.
We've visited Seaworld TWICE! Both trips were huge successes.
The girls are a great age for Seaworld. We spend most of our time (and money) feeding various animals.

On the first trip, we were greeted by Penguin characters at the door and were feeding dolphins within 10 minutes.

On the second trip, we fed birds. Keira LOVED it. Ana... not so much. Apparently, the birds do not like to be pet like a cat. They'll bite you as a reminder if you try. Ana was reminded twice.

The Seaworld trips were our first family trips by ourselves (not to a family member's house). We put the girls on a mattress between the beds in the hotel room. They stayed in their beds and were (for the most part) great.

It is SO easy to pack now that they're older. I didn't need to worry about extra baby items. They girls are grown kids. Such a life change.

We've really loved traveling as a family. We can't wait to go back to Seaworld and also on other family adventures. For now, though, we're all a little tired.

Wait and see

Did I ever tell you of the time that I brought Ana to the ER in the middle of the night?
Oh.
No?
Well, it wasn't a mosquito bite, Dr. Substitute.
This is what Ana looked like earlier in the day. When Brad woke her up to give her benadryl, her eye had swollen completely shut. Completely.

I called the on-call pediatrician, who told me to take Ana to the ER. She said they might admit her for IV antibiotics. Admit her? Really? Hmm...

I don't mess around with the eye.
I mean, I'm a photographer AND I've had a serious eye injury, so this is just one of those things I won't wait and see on...

I packed up my happy, chatty little girl ("It is very dark outside. Keira is sleeping. It is dark outside...") and brought her to the ER at 3am. Ana was happy with holding Brad's iPod and watching a movie.

We didn't wait too long before we got the diagnosis (periorbital collitis er something... I'm just a photographer, don't ask me for more info) and a prescription for pretty strong antibiotics.

It was our first ER visit for the girls.
Our first.
I hope that any future ER visits are as uneventful.
*shudder*
... but we'll wait and see.

So much better than Morse Code

We had a great weekend. Brad's quartet concert was followed by a busy weekend visiting with his sister and her family.
At one point, we found ourselves at the Children's Museum. I waited upstairs (with kid #1) to meet up with Tracy, while Brad played downstairs (with kid #2).

At 10:58am, I started receiving the following text messages from the father of my beautiful children... who was stuck in the bathroom with Keira... who didn't make it all the way to the potty...

10:58am
"I need some panties. i'm in the bathroom by the paper airplane place"
10:59am
"Help. bad problems. disgusting."
11:00am
"Good god"
11:00am
"Please come"
11:01am
"Seriously come to the door and call in"
11:02am
"Need pull up"

What did people do without texting?

Pushes Other Buttons

Speaking of pushing buttons, here is an example of one of the arguments my girls have.
I feel like I need a disclaimer here... My girls get along extremely well. They make up games, hold hands, laugh together and generally don't annoy the crap out of each other.
They save that effort for mommy and daddy.

They've had a few funny arguments over the last few months. They've even had an argument about whether or not it was raining outside. The arguments are never harsh or mean spirited - and for that, I'm thankful. I actually try not to laugh... but I did catch this gem to share with you.

Guess who likes to push buttons?

Pushes Buttons

You should know that Luke's father is Polish... and his mother has a degree in music.
Put those two together and you get a toddler who can find the ONLY POLKA BUTTON on a keyboard...

I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream... and then I smacked you down to the floor.

The girls didn't nap today.
When I went in to get them, they were dancing together in the middle of the room.
Like, holding each other dancing.
And singing the "Sleeping Beauty" song.
And then pulling each other down in a WWF take down to the floor.
Almost so sweet.
Almost.