The Puddles

I just finished losing another game of Rummikub to Chris, am getting ready to start my third book this week, actually got to take a nap(along with the rest of the family), spent hours jumping waves with Ainsley, tried to help Madie master the boogy boards, held deep discussions with Ben, and sat on the deck and watched the stars come out . It was a good day.

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We finally made it to the beach. It only took most of the day to gather the entire household minus the cat and the kitchen sink, but Chris got everything to fit in the truck and off we went.

Four stops later we arrived. I think we made less side stops on our road trips from Nebraska to Texas.

The gulf is beautiful. The breeze is cool, and the water is really wet. A perfect combination for Ben. He has been the most excited one out of all of us today.

After dinner and unpacking, we went for a lovely evening walk on the beach. It was wonderful watching Chris walking amongst the waves while hand in hand with the kids. Madie informed me tonight that she is waking up at 7:30am to go swimming and would I like it if she came and woke me up? No! No alarm clocks on vacation!

And Madie lost her 20th and final tooth of her life today. For once Chris and I have not forgotten and the tooth fairy will be making her final stop tonight for Madie.

Tomorrow we hit the water and spend the day in the sand and the water. I can’t wait.

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“Mom, can we have a conference please?”

“Mom, I have some concerns that I need to discuss with you.”

Both quotes made by Madie regarding her issues with her siblings today. She certainly is getting more mature.

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“Mommy! You have a queen’s bed!” shouts Ainsley with joy as she describes the canopy bed in the master bedroom at the beach house.

“So where is Daddy going to sleep?” Because of course Daddy, the king, can’t sleep in the queen’s bed.

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We leave tomorrow for a week of relaxation at the beach.  The house has been rented, but that seems to be the end of our plans.  This is a no-plan do-nothing vacation.  I typed up a packing list for the week, but have so far managed to pack little on the list.  It is 6pm the night before and boy, do I have a lot to do. I haven’t planned the meals. I haven’t planned any outings. I haven’t planned hardly anything.  It almost feels like we are going to pack and then get there, drop everything and do nothing for the next five days.  Well, that doesn’t sound so bad either.  However it turns out, it will be wonderful to get away from everything in Conroe and just “be” somewhere else.

I guess ultimately the goal of the week is to spend time together as a family and not think about the rest of the world for a little while.  I think that is a manageable goal!

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Ben had his six month check up for his heart on Friday at Texas Children’s. Good news. No significant changes. This is good.  They started taking additional measurements on his heart this time because new research has shown that . . . ask me sometimes about the research.  It’s too much to explain here.  Let’s just say that they took some measurements of his heart and it showed some anomalies, but since the doctor does not have anything to compare it too we are just going to watch it.  She is not worried. She just wants to keep an eye on it.  When we go in February and repeat the same tests, she will have another set of measurements to compare it too.  It was a good visit.  But boy we were tired when we were done.  We left the house at 7:00am and didn’t get home until almost 3:00pm.  We probably sat in the exam room for over an hour, and that wasn’t until 11:00am and our appointment was at 8:30.  Her first patient of the day had to be admitted to the hospital.  Chris kindly requested that she not make a habit of it that day.  Chris and I committed later that however bad we may feel that we have it sometimes at least THAT has never happened to us.  That would truly suck. (Knock on wood that that never happens to Ben.)

Ben is finally getting old enough for the doctor to ask him questions regarding his health.  He starts talking about all of the things that he did this summer.  Chris and I are sitting there going, “Don’t talk about camp. Don’t talk about camp. Don’t talk about camp.”  She told us at the last visit that Ben can’t go to camp.  We were breaking a big rule.  We don’t regret what we did, but we sure didn’t want to get in trouble for it!  I felt that we were in the principal’s office.  To Ben’s credit, our mind messages worked.  He didn’t talk about camp.  So Chris confessed. Daggoneit, Chris!  We were in the clear. Geez.  After Chris explained the camp scenario (he was there, only two days, lots of water, sometimes he just needs to be a kid), she was ok with it.

The cardiology department has lost some of its doctors to other hospitals (natural career moves) and since our other favorite specialist, Dr. Feig, has moved on to become head of his department at another hospital, we just wanted to make sure that Dr. Altman was going to stick around for a long time.  She is. Thank goodness.  She is so patient with Ben and does a great job treating us like humans (not always the case in medical land) that we would hate to loose her right now.

I know that we still have to get to the two year mark with his surgery (the percentages of the growth recurring go down some after that.  although it was the four year mark when his growth came back the last time.), but it still feels great to get good reports.  The doctor also put a title on his issues “aortic valve disease.”  Awesome. That is the name for his current issue.  It changes all the time, but for now that is the name.

So six more months.  Six months of no surgery, no major tests, no huge worries.  She even said he was old enough to start doing the treadmill test.  Cool.  That will be different.  Of course, she tells us that adding this test makes for a very long day.  Geez. We are already tired at the end of today, what will another three hours do to us?

Either way. Ben is good. He is still adorable.  He still has the most awesome scar. And he still tells the best stories.   All in all it was a good day.

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“Ainsley, you are not eating dinner until you finish cleaning your room,” I state after she throws an hour long temper tantrum about not cleaning her room.

Right before dinner Ainsley comes running into the kitchen . . .

“Mommy!  Mommy!  I am getting a princess room!”

“What?”

“They are making me a princess room.”

“Who are “they”?” I ask.

“I am not telling, because you will make them stop!”

“Ainsley  . . . how did you convince your brother and sister to clean your room again!?”

She just smiles at me.  This child is scary.

That night before bed.

“Madie and Ben.  You have to quit cleaning Ainsley’s room.  When you were her age I made you clean your room and you were able to do it! So stop cleaning hers!!”

“Mommy, I didn’t want her to starve to death! So we “helped” her,” Madie says.

“Unless you want to go to her college dorm room and clean her room there, STOP CLEANING HER ROOM! I just want to know what she says to you to convince you to do this each time.  Seriously. I’ve got to keep your Aunt Debra away from her.  She is teaching her too many “I’m-the-third-child-look-at-me-I’m-so-cute” tricks.”

“Why is that?” says Ben.

“I am telling you all of this because that was ME.  I was always cleaning/organizing your Aunt Debra’s room.  I even drove up to college to do it. Learn from me children.  STOP CLEANING HER ROOM NOW before it is too late.”

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