Stop the Insanity

I don't know why but the last few weeks has been one crazy incident after another. When you are a parent, it seems there are moments when life is good, nobody is getting hurt, driving you crazy and your house is miraculously clean.

Then there are the other moments…the moments when it seems that EVERYTHING is going wrong. You're kids are constantly fighting with each other, always getting hurt, and your house is now a mess because you are dealing with the kids or just too exhausted.

I feel like we are in one of those moments. The kids being insane and always bugging each other, I can handle that… at least I have in the past so I assume I'll survive this time too. The house is actually clean but probably only because we've had people over so it HAS to be clean. However, there is something that needs to stop.

The near heart attacks… No I'm not in poor health but I seriously think my kids might be trying to drive me to it! Shall we recap what's happened lately?

After searching the whole house for Everly, I find her outside, out FRONT, out of the GATE, walking the side walk of our BUSIEST street! It's a miracle someone didn't just stop and grab her or that she didn't decide to go into the street or that I found her when she had only just started down the sidewalk!

Ransom comes up stairs to show me that he has a bloody hand. He's not screaming, he's not really even crying although the tears are welling up. You can tell this isn't a "I ran into something" type cut, it's more along the "I made a huge mistake, help me" accident. I had asked him to bring me the epi-pen that was still downstairs…well apparently he decided to try it out. Not smart. Thankfully he only managed to stick himself with the needle and didn't inject any of the medicine. Thankfully it was only his hand and not something crazy like his mouth or eye!

Verity has fallen off a chair and a bed. Both times landing on her head and I'm pretty sure if she wasn't a squishy, flexible baby her neck would have snapped. She's perfectly fine but it's not fun to see your baby fall on their head like that.

I'm sure Logan has had something happen to him… in any case he's been in fine form lately with his tantrums, boredom, and contrariness.

So I'm ready for a change. I've had too many accidents, too much blood, to many near panic attacks. Moms shouldn't have to deal with that. This mama is ready to clock out. When can I cash in on my sick days and vacation days? Oh wait…I'm a mom. I don't get those.

Ransom: 6 Years

Age: 6 years

Weight: 43 lbs

Height: 43 inches

Fun facts: Lost his first tooth. Finished Kindergarten. Began taking piano lessons.

Interview with Ransom 

Q: What's your favorite food?
A: Does that count candy? (no) Ice cream!

Q: What's your favorite subject in school?
A: Phonics

Q: What is something you are good at?
A: Unbuckling me buckle (he finally mastered unbuckling his car seat…and this is a good thing)

Q: What's your favorite color?
A: Black

Q: What do you want to be when you grow up?
A: A Diamond Hunter

Q: What is your favorite book right now?
A: Ugly Duckling

Q: What are three words that describe you?
A:  Silly, happy, mellow

Q: What snack do you like best?
A: Candy

Q: What is your favorite movie?
A: Megamind

Q: What is one food that you do not like?
A:  Coconut (much to my dismay)

Q: What is your favorite toy to play with?
A: Twist

Q: What is your favorite game to play?
A: Puzzles

Q: What makes you laugh the most?
A: Tickling

Q: What scares you the most?
A: Monsters!

Q: What do you want to do next year?
A: Pick flowers

The Girl Who Grew Too Little

If you saw my post on Everly's growth a few posts back, you'll remember that she was tiny. Now she's always been tiny so it wasn't all that shocking to me that she was still tiny. The doctor was a bit concerned though and so we scheduled a followup height check for one month later.

This whole past month, Everly's height has always been on my mind. I wasn't worried that she was short but I was worried that the doctor would think it was enough to warrant tests or medication. The doctors had tried to get my mom to do that with me and I'm ever so glad that she decided not too. I didn't want to deal with that mess with Everly.

The big day came and I went to the doctor with Everly (and Verity in the carrier because naturally she goes where I go). We get called back immediately (must have been a light morning) and get Everly measured. Everly had grown 1/4 an inch in one month. Now by growth standards that's really not all that bad but it still meant she was short. The nurse got my height and Justin's height again so the doctor could compare to what Everly is. At that point, my mama mind starts to worry. Then I hear the doctor wants to double check with another pediatrician…more worry. Next, the nurse comes back in and says she wants to measure Everly laying down.

You see normally they measure babies and toddlers laying down. When they are young their bones compress (or maybe it's their bodies..something to do with bones and bodies…) and they really aren't good at standing up straight, so measuring them laying down gets a more accurate reading. Now when we first took Everly in last month, we measured her standing up. This was partially because she's a bit over 2 years old now and because she didn't want to be measured so it was easier to get her to be measured standing up (like her brothers showed her) than laying down.

Neither the nurse nor I thought about the effects that would cause.

You see, when we finally measured Everly laying down she grew…2 inches!!! Yeah, there's no way she actually grew 2 inches in 5 minutes so apparently when she stands up she compresses 2 inches! Holy Moley!

Needless to say we were all pleasantly surprised. We plugged in her new height of 35 inches and lo and behold she shot up in percentiles. Instead of being in the 2%, she was in the 22%!!! Right where she's always been and should be.

Moral of this story? If you have a toddler who is under the age of 3, make sure to have them measured laying down! If you suddenly have a height concern when your child is measured standing up for the first time, have them do another measurement with them laying down! We could have avoided so much stress and worry if we had just measured Everly correctly the first time!