Tyler's ENT visit

Ty had a check up with the ENT today. Brett and I noticed about a month ago that you could pull his right ear lobe and see the tube sitting in his ear. It's still there and the tube in the left ear is also out. His left ear has closed up nice and looks great.....not the same for the right ear. He's got fluid sitting there and it's a little pink. Not infected but it could become that way. She told me to watch for any balance issues, him saying "uh, what, etc...indicating that he can't hear" and any infections. We have to go back in 3 months and if their is still fluid then we will have to get another set of tubes. OR if we should get an infection she wants to know and we'll address it sooner. Keeping my fingers crossed that the fluid will go away and no more tubes necessary. However, the only good thing is that he also has a very noticeable piece of skin from his upper lip to the front teeth that our dentist would like clipped. So if he needs more tubes, then the ENT can clip the skin as well. So we wait.....and watch.....and will see the pediatrician for his 4 year check up sometime in July so we'll see if by chance the fluid is going away.

How to eat pizza.....

Kids have their likes and dislikes but I think most kids LOVE pizza. At least my 3 love their pizza. If there is ever a meal I want everybody to eat - we get pizza!

It's how they "eat" their pizza that differs.......and Cody takes the cake in our family. He has to have a pepperoni pizza. So we usually order 1/2 cheese, 1/2 pepperoni. Here are Cody's steps to eat pizza:

1. Find the perfect piece.
2. Take the pepperoni off.

3. Take all the cheese off - every single piece of it.

4. Eat the pepperoni.

5. Eat the rest of the pizza.

6. Start over till his little belly is full.

Cody showing Uncle Shaun the "perfect piece".....

Tyler's 4th Birthday

Tyler had a GREAT 4th birthday. We woke up to some rain and cooler conditions on Saturday and I was quickly having a little chat with the weather man as he LIED about the weather. Once I got over it....we got busy to setting up the tent, Brett went and got the bounce house, then I to get the balloons and then it was time to go to the fire station.

What an awesome job they did for us at the fire station. We met with 2 fire men and they quickly took Tyler and up in the truck he went. He got to steer, blow the horn (picture below), turn the truck on, turn the lights on. He LOVED it. Then they took us around the truck and showed us what was in each compartment. After that the fireman slid down the pole and then all the kids got to try it out. Then they got out all the gear and he put it all on for the kids to see. He explained everything as he went and did a really good job at. The fireman called Dispatch and had them run a test so the kids could hear the tones. It was a lot of fun and I think they all learned something. We took a quick photo op in front of the truck and you can imagine how hard it is to get all the kids to look at the camera. After we left the fire station, we came back home to enjoy the bounce house. I have to say the bounce house was worth every penny. It was a super nice house with a covered top - which came in very handy as it did rain on us. The kids jumped and jumped and jumped some more. We enjoyed a super yummy ice cream cake, presents and then it was time to beat the pinata. The weather did not cooperate at this point so we had to move the pinata to the front porch and the kids got to release some energy. They all got to hit it a couple of times and then it broke open.

Here is my birthday boy. He came to bed and was full of stories. It was wonderful to hear him explain his day and hear the excitement in his voice. He truly had a wonderful birthday!!!! I still can't believe he is 4! Happy Birthday Tyler - Mommy, Daddy, Cody and Dylan love you!

Tball Banquet Pictures

To tide you over as this weekend is going to be a long one with the birthday party tomorrow, here are a couple pictures from the T-ball banquet!


One last time....."Go A's".....
Cody and Dylan - very proud of their trophies! Now I need to get a shelf for their bedroom so we can display them!And the certificates.....

T-Ball Banquet

Today we had our end of season banquet for T-ball. The boys had a lot of fun. They had a couple bounce houses, some good food, the zoo-mobile from the zoo (although they didn't stay long due to the storm coming in). They got to see some of their team mates and then all t-ballers were called to the stage for their trophies and certificates. The coach called em up by name and they got their trophy. Plus the coaches wife had little gift bags for them all too. We had a really fun season and will probably always remember their "first team". We also got the pictures tonight and they turned out good. I am now an official owner of a kids picture button. I have pictures but am to tired to download all of those tonight.

We are gearing up for Tyler's party on Saturday and so tonight we had to make our Walmart run to get all the "stuff". So it's a late night. We came home to a package from my Dad. He has sent the boys fire helmets and a hose. So they have had a lot of being "firemen". Really looking forward to Saturday.

So maybe pictures tomorrow......

My baby turns 4 in 2 days........................

Life

Yes, I'm catching up if you can't tell....

On Saturday I walked in the Relay for Life walk. This was my first time at an event like this and wow was it heart wrenching. We walked as Team Innovation and had about 33 walkers from IA participate. We raised almost $3500 and that is a lot of money for such a short time of fund-raising. Of course the weather DID NOT cooperate with us. Friday wasn't a horrible day but in came the rain during the night and they had to close the event down early on Saturday. Cancer seems to be everywhere you turn. I have had great family friends who have passed and those that are still fighting. So as I walked I thought of them. Even the boys came out and walked their little hearts out - completing about a mile. Our team captain had made a deal that if we raised a $1000 he would wear a coconut bra and grass skirt and walk around the track once - that was a great sight! He even made $2 on the lap. We had lots of ideas for next year and will pray for no rain!

Now onto catch up in the Luckey life....we have a big birthday party coming up this weekend. Tyler turns 4 on Saturday. We have a tour of a fire station planned and then coming home for cake and a bounce house. Our weather is looking wonderful and the kids should have a great time! Cody will get his appliance on 7/2 and we are slowly talking about that. I find when we do talk, he doesn't sleep well so I am trying to find all the positives out of this. Or atleast all the ones that he will understand. Tyler has an appointment with his ENT on 6/30 and I am curious how that will go as he has a tube sitting inside his ear. We can see it - it's probably just stuck on some wax. Brett and I are well. Busy keeping up with the boys and remembering to take a couple minutes for us. Dylan has lost now 2 teeth and I think he has a couple more loose ones. Brett celebrated a nice Father's Day. We didn't do much but did relax, have a cook out at the Smith's and of course a photo!

Have a happy summer. I will try and get better at updating the blog.

Moving on up....

Tyler's last day of pre-school was also 6/19 and they had a "moving up" ceremony. He was in the schools pre-k3 program and will go back for Universal Pre-K in September. He will repeat the same type of roll that Cody and Dylan did......Same teachers, most of the same friends. They had a cute little ceremony. Sang their ABC song, the bumble bee song and a cute preschool song. And I was very surprised that Tyler actually SANG the songs. Tyler did a lot of growing this year. When we started the school year he wouldn't talk to the teachers and barely interacted with the kids. Very shy as he has been around his big brothers all his life. About middle of the year the teacher said that he was coming around and by the end he was talking, playing and participating in sessions. He turns 4 on Saturday!

Meet my Pre-school Graduates!

On Friday, June 19, 2009 - Cody and Dylan graduated from pre-school. Yeah! or Sniff, Sniff depending on my mood. :) I am so proud of them. They had a great two years and really did some growing in those two years. They had great teachers and great, great friends. Friends that they talked about all the time and these same friends that they partied with as they celebrated another year. As we close the pre-school years though, we say good-bye to a lot of these friends as they all are going off to different Kindergartens. We will miss them and I will miss the mom's as we all had a great time together. I honestly think the last day of school was harder on me than them. :) So the boys are now adjusting to "summer vacation"....and still ask every night before bed "mom do we have school tomorrow"...to which I reply "no".

Finding the right words...

Ok....I really think I will be put to the test in the next couple of weeks. Cody had a pretty rough night of sleeping last night. Woke up a lot and just sat straight up. Now I don't know if it was from the dental visit but I can say he hasn't done this before and yesterday was our dental visit and he did experience some pain and discomfort. Tonight, I was sitting with him and we were talking about the rings on his teeth and I started to tell him that he was going to have to get them back on and that the dentist was making him something he had to wear in his mouth. He just covered his little mouth and started to cry and said no. Really, how on earth am I going to do this? How on earth do I really explain this to him? I told him it was to fix his mouth and all he wanted to know was how long. I can't even explain that as 9 to 12 months seems like an eternity to him especially when he is trying to get down the days of the week still. We've talked about the cool fact of eating lots of ice cream and stuff. His last surgery was when he was 2 and I doubt he remembers that. Ever since then it's just been check ups and things that certainly didn't change how he feels. So where do I find the words to explain this to him? Especially when at times I don't understand the "why" in all of this either. This next step has been an emotional one for me so I don't doubt there will be a lot of tears shed. I guess for now I just need to talk with him a little bit everyday as those 2 weeks will be here before we know it and we will be back in that car. For any of you that have traveled this road and have some advice - I welcome it!

Ortho Visit - 2 week count down

Cody and us went to Syracuse today for a meeting with the orthodontist. This trip was for pictures and measurements and discuss what type of appliance he will get put on and when. He did fantastic - he always does fantastic. At times I really hate that he has to be so grown up. I really had no idea what the visit was going to be like so it was hard to prepare him for it. They first got out this tackle box looking thing filled with all different size metal rings. The rings are made to go around the molars and will be the anchor for the appliance. After about 6 different tries - we found our number. #30 in size. (whatever that means) Putting these on did not look pleasant and as I am standing from a far telling Cody it will be OK and reaching my hand into him - did I want to snatch him out of the chair and call the whole thing off. Do we have to fix his mouth? I know we do but........SO then we moved on to a mold. That didn't look pleasant either. His mouth was full of this foam/cement and trying to breath out his tiny nostrils wasn't working so they had him panting like a dog and that worked. We just had to keep reminding him to breath. He did a great job and was rewarded with a new bakugan.

Dr. Scott said that we won't have a typical palate expander in his mouth. This one will be stationary with no screws for us to turn. Which is best for Cody and us as far as maintenance. Yeah....all we will need to do is keep his teeth brushed and the appliance clean. Doesn't seem to bad. He said that the back of his palate doesn't need expanding as it's got a good shape - it is just the front of his palate that has collapsed like a "V"....so the appliance will turn that into a "U". He will have to wear it for 9 to 12 months. It will have a spring like movement to it and will work somehow. Great explanation huh? LOL....I have no idea how it will work as I have no idea what it looks like. He is making one.

I have to say I really love this dentist. He is WONDERFUL with Cody. In the way he talks with him......telling Cody he is "his helper", "handsome", giving him encouragement. That is exactly how a pediatric doctor should talk to his kids. Then as he was talking with Brett and I and answering our questions and explaining things I could see how he already knows what he will do and where Dr. Tatum will pick up. The two obviously work great together and the two sides just mesh together. Such a great feeling to have.

Now the mommy nerves will take over for the next two weeks. We go back to Syracuse on 7/2 and his appliance will get put on. He said for the first few days he will need to be on a liquid diet until he feels like eating regular. He said it's hard for the kids to understand it's OK to touch the wires with their tongues but once they do they tolerate it well. I can get sick to my stomach just thinking about him putting this on and not knowing 100% how it is going to feel. I can say "It's OK" but I really don't know that. I need to figure out a way to tell him what is going to happen but am not sure how. He looks at me with those big brown eyes and I can see the questions. Honestly I am NOT looking forward to that day...7/2....but the 3 of us will get through this together as we always do.

Teeth, Teeth and Teeth

Today has been a "toothy" day! It all started this morning as the boys were in the kitchen eating for the hundredth time before noon. I guess maybe they were done eating and cleaning themselves up. I wasn't in the room but as I piece the puzzle back together I'm assuming Dylan was chewing on a wash cloth (cause he likes to) and Tyler decided it would be fun to yank it out of his mouth. Except Dylan wasn't giving in - so a tug of war began. Next I know, Dylan came running in the living room his mouth all bloody and Tyler went running up stairs. I try to figure out where the bleeding is coming from when I realize - he lost another tooth! This make #2 for him. I didn't even realize it was loose. Certainly wasn't loose like his first tooth. But it's out and we can't find it. So we have to write the tooth fairy a note explaining and hope he stills leaves the cash behind!
Cody goes to see his orthodontist tomorrow to have xrays and molds taken of his teeth. Then we will sit down and discuss what appliance he will wear and I am guessing get a date as to when it will get put on. Very nervous about tomorrow. So I wanted to take a picture of his mouth pre-ortho! (And if you can tell from the picture - if a tooth looks yellow it's really not. That is where his bottom teeth have worn the enamel off the top teeth. Nice huh?
Our Saturday was pretty un-eventful. We had a nice weather so I dug out their pool and we got out the water balloons and got wet! I realized never to trust an almost 4 year old with a hose - he soaked me! :) Today we had a 1st birthday party to attend. It was at a really nice park and the kids had a lot of fun.

A weekend full of Fun

We had a fun-filled weekend for sure. And nice weather to boot! That doesn't happen often! :) Saturday was a busy day for us (or for me) depends on what way you look at it. The boys had there t-ball family day. Team pictures first and then snacks and bounce house fun. The pictures turned out great. I'm going to become a mom of her first "team picture button"........might have to get creative with those as the years progress. I stuck the two of them together for their "individual" picture as we have had just to many pictures lately and I'm not rich! I'm hoping they turned out. No idea when we will get them - might just have to call on that one.

After I watched them a few times on the bounce house I had to jet as Karly had her 5th dance recital on Saturday. What a great day for these girls - to put all of there hard work together on stage. The costumes are wonderful, great music, hair, make-up - it was days like Saturday that I am thankful I have boys and all I had to do to get them ready was throw a t-shirt and baseball hat on and say "smile"! Karly did fantastic and every time she is on stage I get a little tear in my eye. She got a trophy at the end as she has been dancing for 5 years. As the recital went on - to watch the class of tomorrow girls perform and think back to that same stage 5 years ago when Karly was 3 and all decked out in her pink fluffy outfit and then fast forward to her on stage looking very grown up - WOW! She is getting ready to turn 8 and it doesn't seem possible.

Sunday should of been a day of relaxing but I was itching to re-do my bathroom. I torn down the lady bugs and up went my "beach". I must say I LOVE getting ready at the beach every day. I cleaned that bathroom like no tomorrow. It probably was over do - but I was scrubbing ceiling to floor on my hands and knees. When i was all done, Cody walked in and said "mom, it's a little to girly". He's right - but the men of my house must give me some room. I am out numbered! My kitchen also got a face lift. Brett was in "the mood" and wanted to re-do the cupboards. Fine by me! It looks wonderful and so organized. Wonder how long it will last?

So what's coming up in the life of Luckey's.....more teeball, Cody goes to Syracuse for our start of the dental process, I'm walking in the Relay for Life, my baby is turning 4 (yeah, having a hard time with that), big birthday party at the fire station and then Tyler goes to the ENT for a check up (wondering what will be done as one tube has fallen out)....................and that's just for June! :)

My Birthday

This is a scanned picture of my card from my niece Karly. I love home made cards. This one though cracked me up. I love she made me the Birthday Queen! :) I then had to get clarification who the other two were. I thought maybe her and Connor. NO! It is ME (the queen with the crown on), my sister and my brother!

Well I am another year older....the big 32. I'm Ok with that....I love my birthday. Some hate it - but I love it. I had a great day all day. And yes, I even went to work. My co-workers are wonderful and I got a 2 great cards and a 12 pack of Mt. Dew. (You can say that is my drink of choice). Then today also was our bake sale for Relay for Life and OMG I ate to much. Everybody bought cookies "in honor of my bday" and well that required me to taste test. I think we could all quit our job and open a bakery and we would do quite well.

I got home and finished preparing dinner. Brett took the boys today to their end of year picnic. So hours home were cut short. He did all the hard work, I just had to put it in the oven. He got to come home at his lunch time and we all ate together. Then the Smith's came over after Karly's dance rehearsal and we did cake and presents. I got some great things. A new Bills lawn chair. I love it and will get to use it lots at teeball games. My mom and sister got me stuff to re-do my bathroom. Changing over from ladybugs to flip flops. Darn it, if I can't live at the beach - I am going to get ready in one every day. My shower curtain though comes with a story. I picked out a flip flop one from Target. My sister had to order it online and have it shipped to her house. So on the day it comes in the mail.....Shaun gets home first and sees it. He opens it and thought Tanya bought a new shower curtain. Knowing that he would just have to put it up anyways - he decided to surprise her and have it up by the time she came home. So she gets home and he is all giddy over doing it - until - they go in the bathroom and she was like "OMG - that is for Kelly's Birthday". So it got a trial run and looks really good hanging up. :) Super funny! I can't wait to do the "switch". I've had ladybugs forever and am ready for a change. My boys got me a great little purse and an IOU for all the rest of the bathroom stuff that I need.

So I had a fantastic day. What was even cooler was getting all sorts of birthday wishes on facebook. So cool to get those from friends that normally would of never known my birthday.

Yes that is a #3....cause I couldn't find a 2 and of course had no candles in my drawer. Whatever! :)

Baking...

Check out my bakers! Aren't they cute? I think so..... We had some scheduling problems for tomorrow and the birthday cake had to get made.....so.....that left me to do it. The boys wanted to help so bad anyways so it worked out. After dinner, I told them they could help. It is amazing at how good of listeners they are when they want to do something. They were huge helpers. Thankfully, the cake recipe called for 3 eggs so each of them got to crack an egg. I think I got out what fell in but guess we'll find out tomorrow. Then they wanted to stir. So each got a spoon and they stirred until their little hearts were content. And yes, I got out my camera. These are some of the best birthday memories in the making.

Ahh......

It seems that I am catching up rather than writing every night. I need to get better at that again. The boys are all doing well. They are enjoying the nice days, the bath tub enjoys them at night and they are all excited to be done with school in a couple of weeks.

Cody and Dylan had their Kindergarten registration last week. All went well. It was kind of sur-real actually. As I was sitting in the hallway, I could look off to my left and Dylan was in with the speech therapist, then I looked right and Cody was in with the teacher. I got a big ole tear in my eye. It's so hard to believe that they are going to Kindergarten in just a couple months and our school days are starting. The march upward to that big ole Graduation day! There will be little Graduations before that of course but it just is hard to imagine they are this old. Some days it seems like they are still those little babies that were always wanting to be fed at the same time, changed at the same time, etc.

What else....hmmm...this is what I get for trying to remember. I can't remember what I did an hour ago let alone a couple days ago. We had an uneventful weekend. Cookout and bom fire at the Smith's. A lazy Sunday with a sick Cody. Thankfully he feels better today.

T-ball tonight. The boys did good. Dylan has been hitting left handed and is doing wonderful. Everybody has commented how well he is doing and the coach calls him "lefty" and he thinks that is kind of funny. Thanks to Grandpa Jim for straightening him around. He was so proud last week after his game he had to come home and call him.

Tyler is doing great. He is turning 4 in a couple of weeks and we are going to have a really cool firetruck birthday party.

Till next time....