...well, not really. I had to take Marshall and Graham to Cincinnati Children's Hospital in the morning. That penny that our "money child" ate had not made it's way into a diaper, that we noticed, anyway. And, Graham's lead level was almost 12, so we had to get a venous blood sample taken and the test redone. Our neighbor was kind enough to watch Patrick, so I only had 2 with me. How easy!!!
The x-ray went really well. They took about half a dozen pictures and did not see the penny in Marshall's GI tract of his upper respiratory tract. He was such a big boy while getting his x-rays!!! He sat on the table and did exactly what they told him to. NO WAY he would behave this way for me! But, I guess I'd rather my children be angels for other people than to be hell raisers and not wanted back.
We should have Graham's lead test results back late this week, and I have to get my level drawn this week. We are currently on a mission to determine where the contamination is occurring. I have a theory that's it due to having the water main and valve replaced in December 2007, when Marshall was 5mo old and the month that Graham was "made." Marshall's level was almost 7, so he has to be tested every 3mo. Hopefully when we get our water lead test back we will know more.
On a different note, spending time at Children's is such a humbling experience. It takes me back to days when Patrick was having all of his GI issues and we were there constantly, but our child was actually healthy in comparison to many of the children we saw. It is such a blessing to have healthy children, and I try to never take this for granted. You see so many children that are suffering, as well as parents, when you walk the halls of a children's hospital. It is truly heart breaking. I find myself praying and thanking God for blessing us with our three beautiful, healthy boys every time I am there and almost want to cry for the other families. However, I believe that you are never given more than you can handle and that there is a plan for every child out there, this is what makes being at a place like Children's more bearable for me. So, everyone out there, hug your babies and be thankful that you have been blessed and say a prayer for all of those mothers and fathers who are caring for and raising sick children and children with special needs. These parents are truly amazing, maybe that is why they have been chosen to raise their special child.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Late Summer Fun
Well, summer has ended and we are headed into fall. But, boy oh boy, did we have some fun!! Here are some pics from the past few weeks. Enjoy :)
Patrick and Sam playing in the dog crate at Sam's house. Now, you know if we actually made them get in there to play we'd be in big troube. I'm guessing it's okay, though, since they kept wanting to play inside the dog crate! ;) 
The big boys head out to play golf at the par 3 course with Daddy. However, they saw the playground next to the course and decided to play there, instead. They never made it to golf, but had a blast with Daddy, none the less!
Patrick loves to wear daddy's ear protection for shooting. He puts them on, runs to the TV and turns the volume up at loud as it will go. Crazy kid!
The boys riding Thomas at Entertrainment. We went there for Sam's birthday party and had a blast!!
All the boys playing with the train table at Sam's party.
Splish, splash, taking a bubble bath!! The best way to get the boys to come inside in the evening is to promise a super fun bubble bath.
Graham's had enough bath time fun and wants to climb out!
The boy's weekly breakfast treat- fresh donuts. YUM!
Graham after his first finger painting experience!
A classic Patrick expression!
All the kiddos having some pool time to clean up after an afternoon of finger painting.
Patrick and Eugene woke up too early!!! They sat on the couch a little 'zoned out' and watched some Yo Gabba Gabba- quality entertainment! ;)
Marshall, Eugene and Patrick
Timothy and Patrick. It was impossible to get a pic of all 6 kids together!
Patrick and Sam playing in the dog crate at Sam's house. Now, you know if we actually made them get in there to play we'd be in big troube. I'm guessing it's okay, though, since they kept wanting to play inside the dog crate! ;)
The big boys head out to play golf at the par 3 course with Daddy. However, they saw the playground next to the course and decided to play there, instead. They never made it to golf, but had a blast with Daddy, none the less!
Patrick loves to wear daddy's ear protection for shooting. He puts them on, runs to the TV and turns the volume up at loud as it will go. Crazy kid! 
The boys riding Thomas at Entertrainment. We went there for Sam's birthday party and had a blast!!
All the boys playing with the train table at Sam's party.
Splish, splash, taking a bubble bath!! The best way to get the boys to come inside in the evening is to promise a super fun bubble bath.
Graham's had enough bath time fun and wants to climb out!
The boy's weekly breakfast treat- fresh donuts. YUM!
Graham after his first finger painting experience!
A classic Patrick expression!All the kiddos having some pool time to clean up after an afternoon of finger painting.
Labor Day weekend our great friends, Jess and Dave, came down from upstate New York for a visit. They have three kids, as well, Eugene (almost 3), Timothy (almost 2) and Annabelle (2 months.) Jess knows exactly what my day is like with three littles ones close in age! It was so much fun to have our boys meet and spend some time catching up.
Patrick and Eugene woke up too early!!! They sat on the couch a little 'zoned out' and watched some Yo Gabba Gabba- quality entertainment! ;)
Marshall, Eugene and Patrick
Timothy and Patrick. It was impossible to get a pic of all 6 kids together!Thursday, September 3, 2009
Mommy Burn-out
Well, I am awake for the umpteenth time since the sun set last night. Graham was up at 1245am-120am, 3am-4am, 5am-520am and 6am. He is now in the packnplay in the playroom because mommy is done and does not want him to wake up his brothers. I've decided that teething molars is cruel and unusual punishment for mommies- not so much for babies!! As we are on night number 4 of this horrible routine. During my time up last night, I was thinking about these tough nights with the other two boys and wonering, quite fankly, how in the hell I did it. When Patrick was Graham's age Marshall was 5 weeks old. When Marshall was Graham's age Patrick was 25mo. old and Graham was 3wks. old. Insane! There is no way I could be doing what I am doing now with a newborn or being pregnant. I guess that's why God never gives you more than you can handle. So, I am sitting here at the computer watching my video baby monitor and anxiously awaiting a light to appear on at my neighbor's house, as we are out of coffee. REAL coffee, you know, the stuff WITH CAFFEINE. I've been drinking about a gallon of it a day lately, and now all we have is decaf. That is not going to cut it today.Thank heavens our babysitter comes this afternoon so I can get a break. I have errands to run and hopefully I will remember to come home and not drive off into the sunset...;)
Monday, August 31, 2009
Our Money Tree...
...or well, our money child. Being as there is never a dull moment in the Carraway house, today was no exception. We had a fabulous Monday- a great breakfast of blueberry muffins, fresh strawberries and blueberries, off to the gym so the boys could play in the playroom and momma could get her 5mi run in, a nice shower for momma, home for lunch, lots of playing outside, a great nap for all four of us, more playing outside, dinner, a super fun bubble bath, and then it happened. Marshall found a penny in our bedroom and had it in his hand. I was busy getting the other two boys dressed for bed, so I told him to keep it in his hand. We came downstairs and next thing I know the penny is in Marshall's mouth. I told him to spit it out, but it was too late. I did the whole finger swoop thing and quickly realized it was down, as in down the hatch!! He was a little upset, but overall fine. No choking or anything. I figured I'd just watch for some money in his diapers over the next few days, but the more I thought about it the more I thought I should call our pediatrician just to make sure....As I expected, I am supposed to just watch for Marshall to poop money!! Of course this happens on a Monday, when Robert will be at work the next four days to escape having to dig through dirty diapers, but oh well. Maybe Marshall is the end to the recession!! :) Our own little money child. I'll let you know how it all comes out. Literally and figuratively...
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Summer Vacation
This post is coming a little late, as we went on vacation over 2 months ago, but better late than never, right?!
Well, June 20th we loaded up the car (the rental Kia Sedona, that is. See previous post about me wrecking the Pathfinder!) and began the 15hr drive to Destin, FL. I say we "load up the car" as if we just piled everything in and drove off in an instant. Not the case. Those of you with small children know what I'm talking about. I spent about 10 days packing for this trip and organizing so that we could "load up the car" on the 20th and drive off. But anyway, we drove to Alabama and spent the night. The drive there was rather uneventful, other than fighting, screaming, wanting out, etc. Staying in the hotel for one night is when the fun began!!
We had two rooms and decided to put the big boys with daddy in one room and me with Graham in the other. Daddy said he had quite a good night, that was not the case for me. Graham was up ALL night long. Nursing, crying, nursing, squirming and repeat. I don't think he liked being out of his normal surroundings. But, we survived. The next morning we loaded up again and started the final 3-4hrs of our drive.
The boys were becoming increasingly tired of being in the car. They had eaten so many Smarties and Dum Dums that they no longer responded to them as my bribe for good behavior in the car. They were also quite tired of their movies we brought for them to watch. I guess Tom and Jerry and Baby Einstein loose their appeal after about 12hrs on repeat. Don't worry, they had lost their appeal to mommy and daddy, too. We were tired of hearing them!!
So, what better way to liven up our last few hours on a two lane highway in the middle of nowhere?? Well, Daddy kills Peter Rabbit!!! Yes, you heard me right. We are driving behind a truck pulling a trailer and then all the sudden something hits our windshield and leaves a wonderful mark. It seemed that the truck had actually hit the rabbit and it flew up onto our car. LOVELY!! Guess what's for dinner, boys??? RABBIT! Gave us all a good laugh. :)
We also had some other good laughs along the way, too. Patrick had decided that his carseat hurt his penis. So, every little while he would yell out, "My penis hurts!!" We all laughed, as there was nothing I could to about it. His carseat was buckled properly and not too tight. I kept telling Robert that he may need to have the "adjusting" talk with his son rather soon. Maybe Patrick needed to "adjust" himself, that was the only reason I could think of as to why his carseat was hurting.
So, we finally make it to Destin, get checked in at the condo, do the HUGE grocery run, get tucked into bed and start our first official day of family vacation!!! The first day went rather well. The boys loved the pool and mommy loved getting some alone time by the water while the boys were napping. But, then Tuesday came. We were all ready to head out to the pool when Patrick fell/jumped off the couch and hit his head on the corner of the coffee table. Lots of screaming and blood followed. So, we got him settled down, cleaned up and debated on whether to take him to Urgent Care or not. It's pretty funny how when it's your own child all of your knowledge totally goes out the window!! If it were someone else's child I would have known exactly what to do- go get staples! But, since it was my own child, the RN in me totally vanished and the worried mommy took over. We ended up spending the better part of the day in the Urgent Care getting two staples and going to buy LOTS of treats at the gas station. Ring lolipops and Dum Dums, to be exact. This leads me to our next interesting vacation experience.
We are standing in line to pay for said goodies and a young man (mid 20's??) keeps looking at us. He finally gathers up the nerve to talk.
Man: Uh, ma'am, uhhh do you know that your son has, uh, something in his head????
Me: Oh, well, we just got staples in our head, didn't we, Patrick?! (trying to be light hearted and postitive, so as to not freak out Patrick again.) He fell and cut his head pretty badly, but it's all better now, right Patrick?!
Man: (looking rather confused) Oh.
What I really wanted to say: No, you idiot. I didn't notice that my child's head is stapled back together. Or, well, he got ahold of the stapler this morning. I was wondering why it was empty! Better yet, totally freak out and start screaming, "What happened to my child???"
But anyway, Patirck's head was fixed and we had to spend the rest of the day inside, out of the water. He did not seem to be in any pain and was pretty proud of his staples.
On Wednesday evening we decided to head down to the beach in our "picture outfits" to take our annual beach photos. Everything started off quite well until out of nowhere Patrick's nose starts dripping blood. We think he and Marshall bumped heads or something. So, we try to get that settled down and clean up the nice once-white-polo-now-blood-stained-polo and get our pictures done. The kids all have a blast and just as last year, I am wondering why in the world I forgot to bring a change of dry clothes. They always end up in the water and I have no towels or clean clothes for the drive back, as we go to a rather quiet, secluded part of the beach to take pics. But, we did get some nice shots. :)
Thursday rolls around. It's been a nice week. Boys have had a blast, mommy and daddy got some date nights in and then it's ant bite time. Awesome....not really. We come in from the pool and Patrick keeps talking a bug that went down Marshall's neck. I blow it off, not really making much sense to me at the time. Then, Marshall starts squirming and freaking out. I look down his shirt, take it off and sure enough, there's ants. And, there are ant bites, too. Ugh. Now Patrick is basically, in his own 3yr old way, saying, 'I told you so." But, got it all under control. If only my children were not totally unafraid of every bug on the planet!!
We spend Friday enjoying our last day and packing for the drive home. We decide to do it in one day, instead of two as we did on the drive down. We also had a little birthday party for Marshall, as his second birthday was just a couple of days after we got back to Cincinnati. On Saturday we load up, again, and start to drive. The drive goes basically as planned. Lots of fighting, screaming, wanting out, etc. We stop at a Wendy's a couple hours outside of Cincinnati to eat dinner and put the boys in their PJ's. I am changing the boys and Patrick got a little frustrated because he couldn't get his clothes off. What does he do?? He begins to say, "Dammit, ugh...dammit, dammit..." with increasing frustration. Hmmm.....where did he hear that?? Couldn't be mommy now, could it?? I tried to turn around, so as to not let him see that I was about to burst out laughing. It was pretty funny!! I decide to ignore the whole thing, as if I make a big deal out of what he said, he will keep saying it.
We pull into our driveway late Saturday night, exhausted, but so happy to be home and even happier that we made the trip in one day. We had a blast at the beach and look forward to going again, but let's be honest, there is nothing better than your own home and bed after a long day of driving!!
Our sweet Marshall
Our big boy, Patrick
Cousins!!!
Daddy and Graham
Daddy and the big boys
Mommy working on the bloody nose
Marshall's early birthday celebration
Mommy and Daddy with the big boys at the beach
You think Patrick and Marshall are done with me taking pictures?!
Lounge time for Patrick :)
Ready and waiting to head to the pool!
Patrick's boo boo
Well, June 20th we loaded up the car (the rental Kia Sedona, that is. See previous post about me wrecking the Pathfinder!) and began the 15hr drive to Destin, FL. I say we "load up the car" as if we just piled everything in and drove off in an instant. Not the case. Those of you with small children know what I'm talking about. I spent about 10 days packing for this trip and organizing so that we could "load up the car" on the 20th and drive off. But anyway, we drove to Alabama and spent the night. The drive there was rather uneventful, other than fighting, screaming, wanting out, etc. Staying in the hotel for one night is when the fun began!!
We had two rooms and decided to put the big boys with daddy in one room and me with Graham in the other. Daddy said he had quite a good night, that was not the case for me. Graham was up ALL night long. Nursing, crying, nursing, squirming and repeat. I don't think he liked being out of his normal surroundings. But, we survived. The next morning we loaded up again and started the final 3-4hrs of our drive.
The boys were becoming increasingly tired of being in the car. They had eaten so many Smarties and Dum Dums that they no longer responded to them as my bribe for good behavior in the car. They were also quite tired of their movies we brought for them to watch. I guess Tom and Jerry and Baby Einstein loose their appeal after about 12hrs on repeat. Don't worry, they had lost their appeal to mommy and daddy, too. We were tired of hearing them!!
So, what better way to liven up our last few hours on a two lane highway in the middle of nowhere?? Well, Daddy kills Peter Rabbit!!! Yes, you heard me right. We are driving behind a truck pulling a trailer and then all the sudden something hits our windshield and leaves a wonderful mark. It seemed that the truck had actually hit the rabbit and it flew up onto our car. LOVELY!! Guess what's for dinner, boys??? RABBIT! Gave us all a good laugh. :)
We also had some other good laughs along the way, too. Patrick had decided that his carseat hurt his penis. So, every little while he would yell out, "My penis hurts!!" We all laughed, as there was nothing I could to about it. His carseat was buckled properly and not too tight. I kept telling Robert that he may need to have the "adjusting" talk with his son rather soon. Maybe Patrick needed to "adjust" himself, that was the only reason I could think of as to why his carseat was hurting.
So, we finally make it to Destin, get checked in at the condo, do the HUGE grocery run, get tucked into bed and start our first official day of family vacation!!! The first day went rather well. The boys loved the pool and mommy loved getting some alone time by the water while the boys were napping. But, then Tuesday came. We were all ready to head out to the pool when Patrick fell/jumped off the couch and hit his head on the corner of the coffee table. Lots of screaming and blood followed. So, we got him settled down, cleaned up and debated on whether to take him to Urgent Care or not. It's pretty funny how when it's your own child all of your knowledge totally goes out the window!! If it were someone else's child I would have known exactly what to do- go get staples! But, since it was my own child, the RN in me totally vanished and the worried mommy took over. We ended up spending the better part of the day in the Urgent Care getting two staples and going to buy LOTS of treats at the gas station. Ring lolipops and Dum Dums, to be exact. This leads me to our next interesting vacation experience.
We are standing in line to pay for said goodies and a young man (mid 20's??) keeps looking at us. He finally gathers up the nerve to talk.
Man: Uh, ma'am, uhhh do you know that your son has, uh, something in his head????
Me: Oh, well, we just got staples in our head, didn't we, Patrick?! (trying to be light hearted and postitive, so as to not freak out Patrick again.) He fell and cut his head pretty badly, but it's all better now, right Patrick?!
Man: (looking rather confused) Oh.
What I really wanted to say: No, you idiot. I didn't notice that my child's head is stapled back together. Or, well, he got ahold of the stapler this morning. I was wondering why it was empty! Better yet, totally freak out and start screaming, "What happened to my child???"
But anyway, Patirck's head was fixed and we had to spend the rest of the day inside, out of the water. He did not seem to be in any pain and was pretty proud of his staples.
On Wednesday evening we decided to head down to the beach in our "picture outfits" to take our annual beach photos. Everything started off quite well until out of nowhere Patrick's nose starts dripping blood. We think he and Marshall bumped heads or something. So, we try to get that settled down and clean up the nice once-white-polo-now-blood-stained-polo and get our pictures done. The kids all have a blast and just as last year, I am wondering why in the world I forgot to bring a change of dry clothes. They always end up in the water and I have no towels or clean clothes for the drive back, as we go to a rather quiet, secluded part of the beach to take pics. But, we did get some nice shots. :)
Thursday rolls around. It's been a nice week. Boys have had a blast, mommy and daddy got some date nights in and then it's ant bite time. Awesome....not really. We come in from the pool and Patrick keeps talking a bug that went down Marshall's neck. I blow it off, not really making much sense to me at the time. Then, Marshall starts squirming and freaking out. I look down his shirt, take it off and sure enough, there's ants. And, there are ant bites, too. Ugh. Now Patrick is basically, in his own 3yr old way, saying, 'I told you so." But, got it all under control. If only my children were not totally unafraid of every bug on the planet!!
We spend Friday enjoying our last day and packing for the drive home. We decide to do it in one day, instead of two as we did on the drive down. We also had a little birthday party for Marshall, as his second birthday was just a couple of days after we got back to Cincinnati. On Saturday we load up, again, and start to drive. The drive goes basically as planned. Lots of fighting, screaming, wanting out, etc. We stop at a Wendy's a couple hours outside of Cincinnati to eat dinner and put the boys in their PJ's. I am changing the boys and Patrick got a little frustrated because he couldn't get his clothes off. What does he do?? He begins to say, "Dammit, ugh...dammit, dammit..." with increasing frustration. Hmmm.....where did he hear that?? Couldn't be mommy now, could it?? I tried to turn around, so as to not let him see that I was about to burst out laughing. It was pretty funny!! I decide to ignore the whole thing, as if I make a big deal out of what he said, he will keep saying it.
We pull into our driveway late Saturday night, exhausted, but so happy to be home and even happier that we made the trip in one day. We had a blast at the beach and look forward to going again, but let's be honest, there is nothing better than your own home and bed after a long day of driving!!
Our sweet Marshall 
Our big boy, Patrick
Our great little family :)
Cousins!!!
Daddy and Graham
Daddy and the big boys
Mommy working on the bloody nose
Marshall's early birthday celebration
Mommy and Daddy with the big boys at the beach
You think Patrick and Marshall are done with me taking pictures?!
Lounge time for Patrick :)
Ready and waiting to head to the pool!
Patrick's boo booThursday, August 27, 2009
Mommy Blogs
So, Graham woke up at 5am to nurse and went back to sleep. It's that awkward time where it's not really worth it for me to go back to bed and have to wake up 45min later. What do I do?? Well, I make my coffee and decide to Google "Mommy Blogs." I'm addicted!!!! I have been sitting here with my coffee and my video baby monitor reading various Mommy Blogs. Yes, this is how I am choosing to spend my very few free minutes of the day. But, these things are pretty darn funny! I LOVE mommies, especially HONEST mommies. I mean, come on, all children to insane, funny things that they get in trouble for and are embarrassing to us moms and I just love moms who are willing to share these stories. Makes me feel better. I am NOT alone! Now, enough about honest moms, just see my Facebook page and the craziness that has been going on over my sarcastic status updates....But anyway, I'm off to start to add some of these silly Mommy Blogs to my "Follow" list and ultimately wast more time in order to avoid folding the several loads of clothes that are sitting next me, empty the dishwasher and oh yeah, make breakfast for my amazing three little men. :)
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
St. Anthony and Duct Cleaning
Well, as usual, there is NEVER a dull moment in the Carraway house. The latest, you wonder? Well, Patrick managed to get out of bed during nap time today and get his hands on my night guard and put it down an air vent. What is his deal with air vents lately???? You do not want to know what it took to get any info regarding where the night guard went. I promised him a skateboard (which he has been wanting ever since he saw some guy on one on TV. We told him not until he's 15!) a Happy Meal and even a pony. I was desperate. And, to be honest, there is no telling if the night guard is really even in the air vent or not! Before retrieving this info from Patrick I did a lot of praying to St. Anthony, as a dear friend of mine recommended. No, we are not Catholic, but like I said, I was desperate. The night guard did not turn up, but at least Patrick told me what he did with it. So, my next step is to call Coit and see if they can clean our ducts or snake them or something to see if we can recover the lost night guard. All of this for a crazy night guard sounds ridiculous, but it is a $600 night guard. So, it's worth it to me. Robert has no knowledge of today's event, but I'm sure I will tell him this evening and he will be pretty not happy. I've only had the stupid mouth thing for a week and I've already managed to loose it!! Well, off to start calling Coit and see what our options are. In the mean time, if any of you have a connection to a dentist that could replace my NTI $600 night guard, let me know!!
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