What happens when you piggy back your 50lb. 4 yr. old ....

Yeah, so this sucks.

4 weeks ago I was rough-housing with Makayla. She was on my back and I was running around the house and I managed to twist my ankle. I didn't hear anything pop, so I knew it wasn't broken, but it was sore and immediately started swelling. I figured that would last maybe a week and would go away, but nope. 4 weeks later and it is still extremely swollen and still tender to the touch. I finally decided enough was enough and went to see the Dr. today. They took a bunch of x-rays and Dr. determined that it is a very bad sprain and there are some damaged ligaments on the top of my foot. He said we HAVE to get the swelling under control or else the tissue in my foot will get damaged, and then I will be in real trouble. So he said I needed a soft cast, which entails some binding inside that will help the swelling redistribute back up my leg. I am supposed to wear this for a week and then cut it off myself. Then I will go back in 2 weeks and he will check on it again. I can't get this thing wet and I basically have to treat it like a hard cast. Boooo. At least it wasn't broken and I can keep my record of no broken bones! Whohoo!

You Capture: Water!

It's that time of week again folks! The You Capture challenge this week was Water. Makayla has been in her little pool non-stop for the last week, so I decided this was the perfect opportunity to take some fun shots! Here is what I got:

My 3 month old son... just because he's cute!

I loved the way the pool looked with all the different colors

My beautiful daughter, Makayla

Spitting water

Splashing water, her favorite thing to do

My Summer List of Fun!

Since I now have 2 kids and will desperately need some entertainment for Makayla, I have included some events that we will be participating in this summer! Very fun activities for under $10!! You can't beat that! Hope you enjoy, and hope this helps some of you other Mommies out there! And if you know of something I haven't included, please leave a comment and I will add it to my list! Thanks!

Summer Fun!

Monday: Kid Krazy days at Kemah Boardwalk - $1.99 Kidmeals at all restaurants (Starts in July)

Pump It Up ~ 9:30 to 11:30am ~ $6 for pop in play

Tuesday: AMC Movie Camp- 10am~$1 admission - June 15-August 10^th

Edwards Marq*E Free Movies ~ 10am (doors open at 9am)

History Museum- Free admission after 2pm

Wednesday: Play dates with Neighbors

Edwards Marq*E Free Movies ~ 10am (doors open at 9am)

Thursday: Free Admission @ Children’s Museum~5-8pm

Pump It Up ~ 9:30 to 11:30am ~ $6 for pop in play

Friday: Mommy & Me Skate(DARR) ~ 10am-12pm ~ $5

Pump It Up ~ 9:30 to 11:30am ~ $6 for pop in play

Fireworks at Kemah Boardwalk ~ 9:30pm

Saturday: George Observatory ~ 5-10pm ~ $5 admission pp- Kids 12 & under are FREE!

SMG: M~Th @ 11am ~ $1-child/$2-adult (Starts June 7^th)

Monkey Joes: M~Th $8.99/ F~Su $10.99 (Opens at 10am)

Tennis Lessons: Mon. ~ Thurs. - July 5-29^th/ 8:15-9:00 or 4:15-5:00

300 Bowling: Sun~Fri. ~ 11am-4pm Free for kids/ $9 for adults

***UPDATE: Just learned about a place called the Fish Gallery (near 59/Kirby) that does a story time every Thurs. at 3:30. Snacks are included and after the story, the kids can pet starfish, turtles, etc.! How cool is that?! And it's all FREE!! ***

You Capture: Fun!

Hey friends,

I stumbled on this from a friend's blog and thought I would join in the fun! Each week the author of this blog: http://www.ishouldbefoldinglaundry.com/category/you-capture asks you to take a picture of whatever the category is that week. You post this pic to your blog and link it to her site and you are all set! Hope you will join me in this!

This weeks category: Fun! Here is my daughter at her school's Field Day. She was having LOTS of fun!! Ha!

Picture taken on Auto/No flash, though I am branching out with the Manual setting..

God is Good!!

We've been so busy that this if my first chance to update you all on Jackson and Makayla's Dr.'s appointments from this past week. First up was Makayla, we took her down to TCH to get a bone age done on her hand. (Basically an x-ray). Phil had a condition when he was younger and we wanted to make sure that Makayla didn't have it as well. Luckily, the x-ray came out great and she doesn't have it! Whohoo!!!

Next up was Jackson. We arrived and after a few min. they call us back to weigh and measure him, then they do the blood work. This usually involves a heel stick and they collect a relatively small sample of blood. But the last 2 times they've stuck him, he will immediately start clotting and they usually have to stick him again to get enough blood. :-( I hate this, but I know it has to be done, but it still makes me sad that he has to be in pain. This time took the cake though. They stuck one heel and sure enough, they had barely gotten a few drops when he started clotting. They tried all kinds of tricks, but nothing would work. So they stuck the other heel and again, after a few drops, it started clotting as well. Luckily Jackson was pretty much sleeping through this. So then they decide to stick his hand. Ugh. I am starting to get frustrated here, as I know it's not the nurses fault, but come on! When they stuck his hand, apparently the vein just wouldn't cooperate and they couldn't get any blood! Grrrr!! So they called in another nurse and they had to go for the big guns. I had to hold Jackson down (this is making me tear up even as I think about it now, 2 days later) while he screamed bloody murder and they went for one of the veins in his arm. After 10-15 min. of poking around with her finger to get the exact spot, they stuck him again. So this makes his total now 4 sticks in an hour's time. But thank goodness they got a good vein and got the blood! My poor baby! But he went right to sleep the minute they were done. He's such a trooper!

So we went back out to the waiting room and it wasn't long before they called us back to a room to wait for the Dr. I am starting to get very nervous at this point. When we had his counts done 2 weeks ago, they had jumped up to 92,000! So I was trying not to get overly excited, but I was very optimistic! Finally the Dr. came in and we made some small talk, then he dropped the bomb. Jackson's platelet level was 263,000!!!! He said that Jackson is cured!! We no longer have to see him and NO MORE STICKS!! I couldn't believe it! I think I had to ask him like 3 times to repeat it! I almost started to cry! This is all over!

I now have 2 completely healthy children! I could not be happier! God is truly in control! I again want to thank everyone for their continued support and prayers through this ordeal!

Blogs!

Hello friends,

My friend Kirsten is having a giveaway contest on her blog: http://www.stillhatepickles.com ! Go check it out! Also, read her stuff, she is one insightful and funny gal! Enjoy!!

Can we say, ANXIETY?

So tomorrow is a really big day for us in the Graf household. Jackson is getting his platelet levels checked and this is a big deal because his Dr. had previously mentioned that most babies grow out of the ITP by 3 months. Well guess what? He is 3 months today! So I am extremely nervous about this visit. To make matters worse (and better, I'll explain why) we are taking Makayla with us to get a bone age x-ray done on her hand. Her daddy had a condition when he was little and we need to make sure that she doesn't have it as well. You might be asking yourself, Why in the world would you schedule 2 dramatic events for one day? Well I'll tell you, because the building we have Jackson's appointments (Hematology/Cancer Dept) is in the Clinical Care Center at Texas Childrens. Take a guess where the X-ray dept is... that's right, in the Clinical Care Center! I figured since I have to be there for Jackson, might as well get her test over at the same time as well. I would have done this on 2 separate days, but with gas what it is, and considering that Tx. Children's isn't just a stones throw away, I figured this would save us at least some money somewhere. And really it will, considering that we usually valet when we go down there, since it would be a hassle with the stroller etc.

So anyway, just say a little prayer for us tomorrow! I hope I don't have a major anxiety attack before it's all over!!