Christian's urology appointment

Christian got to go with Daddy to have an ultrasound and see Dr Cooper (urology) yesterday at UIHC. Charlie got the honors of taking him. He chose driving all day instead of taking kids to and from school, etc.

Everything went great! Christian did really well and had a couple little naps throughout the day in his stroller.

Christian weighs 17 lbs 15 oz and is 25 inches. Everything looked good on the ultrasound. The bladder and kidneys look great. The bladder wall has had no change but hasn't thickened any more. We will continue with the small dose of ditropan to help the bladder. We also are continuing with the miralax. Christian still has what the doctors call a hydrocele (hydro seal). We are just watching to see if it will correct itself. If after he is one year old and it is not gone, then we will opt for surgery. The general surgeon here in Des Moines wanted to do surgery a few months ago and had called it a hernia but our urologist has told us to wait and see. The urologist doesn't call it a hernia. Here is a link for what hydrocele is: https://www.google.com/health/ref/Hydrocele

The doctor said to keep doing what we are doing and go back in 4 months. The doctor doesn't have an appointment for 6 months so it will be more like six months which is fine with us. If we have any problems we will call. :)

I hope we get as good as news when we go to see ortho on the 30th.

that's all for now...

Wedding weekend in KC

Our labor day weekend was spent in Kansas City (MO and KS) where my sister in law and her fiancee live. It was their wedding weekend! This was also our vacation for the summer.
Charlie and I were up until about midnight Friday night getting things ready, packing and cleaning the house. We were trying to leave the house by 8am Saturday morning. We got on the road about 8:30 am and arrived at our destination a few (long) hours later. During the ride the kids played a few games, colored, and I even made lunch on my lap (pb & j).

Our hotel was very nice. One could easily feel out of place with 4 kids and such a nice hotel. The majority of family all stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott at the Plaza so that is where we stayed. Our room was very nice with 2 queen size beds and a desk. We brought along the pack and play for Christian which fit very nicely next to one of the window's (there were 3). The tv was nice flat screen tv that I wish I could put in my bedroom. A fridge and micro were also in the room which was nice so that I could empty out our coolers. The pool was outdoors and whirlpool was indoors. The pool overlooked the parking lot which I thought was weird but it worked.

I had no idea what the plaza was before we arrived and now have learned that it is a 15 block area of stores and shops. Despite there being a ton of things to do around us, our weekend was full of wedding events so we did not do any site seeing or wondering.

Saturday afternoon was the wedding rehearsal. Maria and Colton both were part of the wedding party. Ria was the flower girl and Colton was the ring bearer. Ria's eldest biological brother was the junior groomsman. The three of them were just adorable in their tuxes and dress.
After the rehearsal we went back to the hotel to relax for a little bit. (During our downtime we took the opportunity to try to calm the kids so that they wouldn't get more overwhelmed than they already were. We probably could have walked around the shops or whatnot but if you know my kids you know that would have been pure disaster without preperation.)

The rehearsal dinner was at a park about 20 mins away from our hotel. Sara and Mitchell did a great job showing everyone a bit of KC and incorporating it into their dinner. My favorite part was the Fritz orange soda. We had a great time meeting Mitchell's family and letting the kids blow off some steam. We ended up having to leave before we were ready as we soon found out that there were not any bathrooms at this park and 2 of the 4 kids had to go. (and kids aren't really able to hold it when they say they have to go)

Sunday morning Ria and I went over to Sopra; the salon where Sara works. All of the girls in the wedding were having their hair done. The bride, Sara, was even doing hair. Sara did Ria's hair for her and it was so beautiful. (I will post pictures when I can get them off my camera) Girl time was nice. I learned a lot about curling irons, makeup, etc not that I will use it as I am not really a girly girl.

Once the kids were all ready and at the church we did a lot of waiting as the ceremony wasn't until 4:30 yet we needed to be there for pictures, etc. Anyone who has been apart of a wedding knows how many pictures there are before the ceremony! Colton and Ria did great walking down the aisle and sitting through the service. Ria did awesome tossing the flower petals. After the ceremony was over Ria and Colton were to walk out right after the last couple; before Ria walked out she looked up at everyone and dumped her basket upside down spilling the flowers all over, grinned and then started walking. I think it was her way of saying "all done!" It was very funny. Even more so that after we walked out and waved the newlyweds off that she had to pick up all of the flowers. HEHE. Colton and Caleb helped too.

The reception was the most fun for the kids I think. Sara did an awesome job with details and everything. She had bags made up for the kids with coloring books, colors, little slinkies, stickers, and bubbles. It was a hit for a little bit and then they started fighting. The best part was the music and all of the kids had a blast dancing their hineys off on the dance floor. Caleb loved the dollar dance and was asking everyone for dollars to dance with Auntie Sara.
After an exhausting day we walked back to the hotel about 11pm and crashed!

Overall we had a good labor day weekend. Some things could have been better. I tend to dwell on the bad and not the good, so I thought I would write down the good so that when I am in a slump I can come back and remember. :)

that's all for now....