February 2013.

So.

Let's talk monthly updates, shall we?

It is now May, and I am just now sitting down to type out a February recap.  I'm halfway tempted to just say screw it and start fresh with May, but I haven't missed a month since December 2011 and gosh darn it I don't want to break my streak.

And remembering a few months ago isn't as hard as it will be when a few years have passed, right?  Right.  

OK, here goes.

February was … um, how do you say it?  Oh.  Yeah.  Chaotic. 

You're sensing a theme here, aren't you?

I guess overall it wasn't really that bad.  There were just a few weeks in there that I felt like I wanted to rip my hair out. 

It started out fairly normal.  We cleaned & organized the boys' play room, which stayed that way for approximately 4.2 seconds.  Oh well, it needed to be done.  Aside from that it was the normal amount of cuteness (a lot) and drama (a lot too).

 

Brennan started physical therapy to help strengthen his core and pelvic girdle.  He has always walked a bit "pigeon-toed", but we've been noticing lately that it was getting worse.  To make matters worse, he was falling quite frequently while running because he was tripping over his own feet.  So I called our friend Leslie (who was the Brothers' PT) and she came over to evaluate him.  Luckily, she decided that it wasn't a problem with his hips, he simply has low muscle tone (like his brothers ... and me).  Low tone isn't a problem unless you have weak muscles to go along with it, so we decided to start physical therapy to get him stronger and walking better. 

Leslie suggested that Brian build a balance beam for Brennan so that he could practice walking while keeping his toes pointed forward.  Her suggestion was fairly simply - basically build a box and flip it over so that he walks inside it.  But of course Brian had plans all his own and made quite the elaborate balance beam, complete with 3 foot posts sunken into the ground.  Of course, he had lots of help building it.  And I, of course, followed them all around with my camera because I cannot resist taking pictures of my gorgeous boys.  

 

Then came the 6th.  Ohhhhh the 6th. 

I had to be in Michigan for class and it was Kiernan's turn to go with me.  Our ticket was booked and we were to leave on the 6th.  A few weeks earlier, Brian's company scheduled him for a 10 day business trip, leaving on, you guessed it!  The 6th.  So Brian's Mom saved the day and flew in to watch Brennan and Beckett.  We did an awesome 3-way airport swap, in which Brian drove all of us to the airport, dropped Kiernan and I off, picked up his Mom, she drove Brennan & Beckett home, and Brian hopped on a plane.  Beautifully orchestrated. 

 

 

 

It was a very quick Michigan trip - less than 48 hours there.  Kiernan was a spectacular traveler and of course loved all of the attention he received while in MI.  When we flew back to FL, Brian's Mom picked us up and we headed back to our house.  We enjoyed a nice weekend and took Mom out to one of our favorite restaurants on the water. 

Mom headed back to MI on Monday morning and the boys and I got back to reality.  We had a busy few days waiting for Brian to return home.  Some friends (Brian's coworkers wives, who were also flying solo) came over for a Valentine's Day dinner.  It was a nice evening spent lamenting how much cleaning we all should probably do before our husbands came home the next day.  Apparently the girls without kids live like bachelors when their hubbies are gone!

Valentine's Day snuggle buddy.

Brian arrived home on the 15th, and we could not have been happier to see him.  (And since he took my brand new camera with him, I was even more equally excited to see my camera again.)  Daddy settled right back into the routine of messy boys and crazy shenanigans.  That is, until he left again for another week long business trip to Michigan.  At least he got to see both his parents and my parents while he was there. 

Brian returned home on Friday, the 22nd, limping around.  He said that he woke up Thursday morning with excruciating pain in his right knee.  Ice and OTC pain meds weren't helping much, so he planned to call the doctor on Monday morning.  That weekend he soaked up fun times with the boys.  They ran through the sprinkler on Saturday and Brian overdid it.  By that evening his knee was really swollen.  I told him to head to Urgent Care, but he insisted that he'd wait til Monday.  

That night, Brian woke me up at 3:30 a.m.  The knee pain was too much to take and he was heading to the ER.  The diagnosis?  A busted kneecap.  Brian informed them that his kneecap has been in 3 pieces for as long as he can remember and the doctor surmised that the tendons in his knee were probably pulling the pieces apart.  Um, ouch. 

He came home with pain meds, an immobilizer, and a referral to see an orthopedic surgeon.  After  switching pain meds because the first kind had him praying to the porcelain gods, a big run around from an orthopedic surgeon, and a personal call from our primary care physician after he saw the X-ray, Brian was finally on good meds and had an appointment with a good ortho.  But of course, that wasn't scheduled until early March, so it was lots of sitting around for him and lots more running around for me.  He was a trooper though, and was always trying to help out while I chased him back to the couch to get more quality time with his ice pack.

Oh.  And I cleaned and organized the play room.  Again.  

Yep.  Glutton for punishment.