Horribly swollen knees...

There are a few things I will whine about but usually I keep the whining about my knee's to a minimum. Most people who haven't known me forever don't even know I have horrible knees.  Horrible knees doesn't quite describe however.  The cartilage in both of my knee's have been deteriorating since I was a teenager.  My orthopedic doctor found this out around my 6th knee surgery.  I woke up in recovery and he told me my cartilage is sloughing off and I would be looking at knee replacements for both of my knee's by 40.  I was told this about 13 years ago.  I was still groggy from the anesthesia but I remember looking at my mom and crying. In total I have had 9 surgeries on my knees and finally my doctor told me there was nothing else he could do. I had to wait for my knee replacements.  I suffered through a pregnancy with my twins on bad knees. I suffer through chasing after my 4 year old and my 2 year old twins on bad knees. Most days I can barely get up the stairs but I just have to keep plugging along.  I saw the orthopedic doctor here at Fort Bragg last year who told me I was too young for a knee replacement (let alone two knee replacements) and his direct quote was for me to "suck it up."  Encouraging words right? I don't think this man realizes what it takes to get through a day with three little kids.  I don't have the luxury of laying on the couch icing my knee's. I am up and going all day. Not to mention all the up and down that comes with constantly changing the twins diapers... and the up and down of the stairs chasing them around the house. Carrying Buddy up the stairs when he has fallen asleep. Just lots of little things that most people can just do pain free.

Well in February we all went to Washington D.C. for Keri to have a procedure done and then we went sightseeing.  I remember we were walking to the White House and I had to use the bathroom.  Instead of making everyone wait I told them to go ahead and I would catch up.  Well they must have been speed walking because when I got done they were quite a ways away.  I made a stupid decision. I decided to run to them.  Running isn't something I can do with these knee's but I did it.  Now four months later I am still regretting that decision to run. The next day following my run to catch up (which was quite a distance) I could barely walk.  Then it was insane swelling.  I got home and trying to up and down the stairs was ridiculous. I would get this intensely sharp pain shooting up and down my leg every time I bent it.  Whhhhhy didn't I just tell them to wait for me in that bathroom?! Well I went to my pain management doctor and luckily she ordered some new MRI's on my knees.  I just got the results and took them to my doctor.  Now on top of my catilage being gone and arthritis I have joint effusion which is fluid in my knee.  The report says Medial femoral condyle articular cartilage thinning with subchondral edema and fissuring involving the patellar articular cartilage with suchondral edema  and joint effusion.,  

So basically that is the reason my knee's have been extra worse. I have all this fluid in my joint causing the incredible pain. Well I was able to get a referral back to orthopedic's and I am in the process of getting another appointment.  Basically what they would do is taking a huge needle and draw the fluid out.  To be honest it sounds painful.  I don't know if anyone has had a cortisone shot in their knee or a synvic shot but those things are sooooooooo painful. Honestly I try to avoid cortisone shots because it hurts so bad. However it is nice to know this might be able to ease some pain. 

Anyway, I'm trying to be positive. My brother is struggling to even walk right now so I am extremely grateful I can still walk. I am grateful that eventually my problem can be resolved.  There are a lot worse things I could have.  I just hope I can get into orthopedic's fast and they can be more helpful than last time! I have my fingers crossed!!

Devious girl!!

So many funny things have happened with the kids and I regret I never write them down to remember.  One thing happened a few days ago and I thought I had to write about it.  So the other day Cambree's best friend came over to pick her up for a play date.  I opened the door to go out and put the car seat in Allegra's car and of course who would follow me outside but Ashy.  Now the problem with that is that she won't just stay by me and watch. She likes to hit the dusty trail and run down the street.  This is only made worse when Buddy joins her for the jog.  I didn't want to have to deal with chasing Ashy so I put her back in the house while I helped put Cam's car seat in the car. The whole ordeal took maybe 2 minutes.  So the girls are about to leave and I go to open the door and oh no... Ashy has locked the front door.  Mind you I didn't even know she could reach the dead bolt on the door let alone actually know to twist it.  So there I am outside on the porch without a way in the house ... and I don't even have my phone.  Luckily Kimmi hadn't left yet so I knocked on her window and asked for her phone.  I quickly called Keri and told him what happened.  He was less than thrilled with the situation as he was just arriving at work.  I was on the phone with him and I keep knocking at the door telling Ashy to let me in.  She simply knocks right back to me and doesn't attempt to unlock the door.  What is worse is I see Buddy looking at me through the window.  Help me Buddy!! Luckily Keri got ahold of someone at the housing office and they quickly came and let me in the house.  By the time I got in the house would you believe the twins were in the family room watching tv? They abandoned me. They didn't seem too concerned that I had been stranded outside.  Luckily the whole ordeal didn't take that long but I'm still dying that stinker locked me out! What a devious little 2 year old!!

Best Buddy around..

Buddy got his second hair cut last week! It devastates me to cut his amazing curls but he looks so cute with a boy hair cut. I took a few pictures after his hair cut as we were playing with the iPad. You can tell at the end he was getting into the picture taking! :)

Crazy, Crazy, Craaaaaazy...

It has to be said. Sunday's are the most stressful day of the week. Our church is at 1pm but we have to leave around 12:15pm because it is a drive to get there and we try to get a good seat. We've recently discovered if we try to coral the kids in an actually bench it goes a lot better but it seems like everyone in the ward is jockeying for the bench seats so you have to leave extra early if you want one. It's like that perfect shirt you've had your eye on at your favorite store that has just gone on sale and you have to beat everyone else to that shirt if you want it. Being in a military ward is unlike normal wards. There are always families moving in and PCSing out. Some months you have a million families crammed into your small chapel and other times it is virtually empty. Most of the time our ward has been consistently full so getting a good seat is pretty hard. 

 Needless to say leaving early for church to get the good seats creates a few problems.  One of them being the twins nap. They have napped at 11am every morning since they were about 4 months old. This nap is vital to how the rest of the day is going to go.  I don't know if people really appreciate how hard it is to raise two two year olds. You have heard of the terrible two's... mine is basically double the trouble with that.  Every sunday we get the twins out of bed in the morning and try to put them back down by 10:30am so they have enough time to whine about being back in their bed and actually are able to fall asleep by the time we wake them back up close to noon.  Then it is a mad... and I mean mad dash to get them dressed, fed, and out the door.  I'm rounding up three sets of little shoes, trying to brush three sets of little teeth, getting my church bag, making sure the diaper bag is fully stocked and trying to get out the door on time.  Needless to say a few weeks ago I was having an "off day" and found myself sitting at church with two completely different shoes.  One was black and one was brown. I had no idea until I was sitting in one of the coveted benches. The shoes don't even have the same feel to them so this goes to show you how intense getting out the door can be if I couldn't even feel that I had two different shoes on. 

Once at church if we get the coveted bench towards the front door (yes we have a preference as to which bench exactly) I feel a little better but if it happens to be completely full and we are reduced to the chairs set up in the back then I know it is going to be a loooooooooooong day.  This is what happened yesterday.  Keri sat down with the girls in the chairs but of course Buddy has zero interest in sitting in a chair.  In a bench he can basically stand the whole time if he wants but getting him to sit in a chair is mission impossible. He just likes to run and run and um run. Getting him to sit for any length of time requires a good sippy cup and a tasty treat.  He started to run away so I pulled out the big guns (aka m&m's) and that stopped him dead in his tracks for a few minutes.  After those were done he had no interest in staying put.  He went to run and I grabbed him and of course screaming ensued. I had to rush him to the hall and of course he was happy as a clam to run down the hall. The problem with Buddy is for whatever reason he doesn't like Keri.  I mean obviously he doesn't not like Keri... but he prefers mom.  In fact if we are at a store and Keri goes to push the cart he is in.. he will scream and push Keri's hand away.  If I try to hand Buddy off to Keri in a hallway Buddy will scream. I have no idea what this is about but it just means especially on Sunday's I get put on Buddy detail. 

Well I feel like things were going okay. He was running up and down. Climbing the stairs to the water fountain for the fifth time and then Keri comes out with the girls. Super. There is nothing like three crazy kids running down the hallway to make you feel super embarrassed and like you are failing as a mom.  Cambree has actually gotten pretty good but when the twins are acting up she feels free to join them. We decided to trap the twins into a classroom and Keri stayed while I took Cambree back into sacrament meeting for a few minutes of silence.  After sacrament it is time for primary/ nursery for the twins.  I teach a primary class in junior primary so I get to witness Cambree sitting with her Sunbeams class. She has two of her best friends in that class with her so getting them to sit and be good isn't exactly easy. Yesterday of course she decided to be "on one" so she wasn't happy to be sitting in Sharing Time. She finally had to come sit with my class. Then she realized she was missing this silly draw string back she likes to carry everywhere with her and of course drama ensued. Then she insists she has to use the bathroom which is really just code for I don't want to sit in here anymore.  It just seems to be never ending during church. The twins have been doing a lot better adjusting to nursery but by the time church is over and I'm grabbing all three by myself because I have no idea where my husband I am exhausted. Not to mention stressed out and just frustrated.  

I think what I need to remember is that I have three kids that are around the same age.  When I say around the same age I mean I have two the exact same age with my only two years older.  I find it easy to beat myself up about my kids.  I don't know if I am flat out failing as a mother to teach them how to behave better or if it is just that they are all super young still. With Buddy I truly have no idea how to get him to stop running away from me.  He refuses to hold my hand to walk anywhere. Is this a boy thing? Both of my girls have always held my hand to walk places.  Buddy is my easiest kid unless we step outside the door and then he hits the pavement at a good speed and if you try to stop him he will scream and throw himself on the floor.  I have no idea how to deal with this or get him to stop it.  Before I had kids I don't recall one person telling me how hard it was going to be to parent them.  To teach them. To get them to listen.  I thought the hard part about having kids was the sleepless nights. The early mornings. I had no idea the hard part was the every day raising of them.  Teaching them. Trying to get through to them.  Trying to be patient with them.  Now I am just searching for a way to make Sunday's more enjoyable and less of a nightmare. Here is the every mother out there right now sipping a diet coke and trying to come up with her own game plan.  I think mine is more of a battle strategy. Good luck mothers out there.  I wish us all luck! 

Best friends!!

I have had my share of amazing best friends growing up.  Life is not the same without that one person in your life that knows you the best and loves you unconditionally. I feel so blessed that Cambree has found her own best friend. Cambree met Allegra not long after we first moved here when they were both 3 years old. We are in the same ward as Allegra's family but as luck would have it the girls ended up in the same dance class too. From that dance class they blossomed into the bestest of friends. Cambree calls Allegra her sister and they get along as if they were truly sisters. I have never seen Cambree be nicer, sweeter, and yes even share her toys with anyone the way she does Allegra. It truly makes me sad to think about our pending move and of Cambree having to say goodbye to her amazing friend. I decided to put together some pictures in tribute of this cute friendship. 

This was taken after dance class one day.. best friends in leotards are priceless! 

At Cambree's 4th birthday party

Being fashionable at Allegra's house.. what best friends don't have matching sunglasses 

Just being goofy girls

Does it get more precious than this??

My FAVORITE picture of the girls... they were on their way to dance

Princesses in the castle

Two girls.. one horse..

This picture captures how truly perfect they are for each other. I found them wearing these hats..

The sweetest girl..

Cambree has only been four for a few months but already she seems like a big girl.  Sure, there is the whining and the constant crying. The fighting with Ashley over everything. But there are also sweet moments. Telling her daddy to "be reverent" when he is getting upset with her. Soothing Ashley when she cries with a song. Then there was the other night.  Keri was in Cambree's room upset about something.  Often I like to tune Keri out because he seems to get upset over everything. Something small can be made out to be something big.  Well I heard him getting upset so I decided to go into her room. He was sitting down with one of the drawers that goes on Cambree's bed.  He told me it hadn't been pushed in and someone had stepped in it and it broke.  Immediately that sounded like something one of the twins would do.  Would you believe Cambree didn't waste any time telling us she broke it? I was so proud of her. I know kids go into a "lying stage" where they will lie instead of confessing and getting in trouble. Luckily for me Cambree hasn't hit that stage and I was so proud of her for stepping up and telling the truth even though Keri was clearly upset.  Well Keri & I got into a small fight and Cambree was right there and she told us "mommy.. daddy...both of you be nice." That diffused the situation right away. My favorite part of this story happened an hour later at bedtime.  Cam was tucked in bed and I asked her to say the prayer.  She said the sweetest prayer ever. She said she was sorry for breaking the drawer and to help mommy and daddy to listen to each other.  It truly touched me that my little four year old could be so sweet and so wise.  She truly is a special girl and I am so lucky she is mine. 

And we were off to D.C...

I have a lot of pictures I need to upload but for now I will simply tell you the story of our adventures in Washington D.C.  As we all know by now Keri has a heart condition and in order to figure out how severe the heart valve is Keri needed to have a cardiac MRI. It seemed like something simple however as it turns out nothing is simple with our family.  Apparently none of the major hospitals in North Carolina (like Duke, Wake, UNC) could do this cardiac MRI so we were told we were off to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington DC to get this done! Walter Reed is one of the major military hospitals. When soldiers get wounded while deployed they get sent there to help in their recovery. I was pretty excited to see it. It has some pretty great history but that is for another blog by someone with a lot more knowledge than me on the subject. 

As it turned out Keri and I had been wanting to take a trip to D.C. and now that he had to be sent to Walter Reed we thought it was perfect. We could mix a little business with pleasure.  The MRI was going to take two hours and Shannon said she would go with us so I could go to the hospital with Keri during the test. We left early on Monday Feb 11th and arrived around dinner time in Bethesda, Maryland.  The military was putting us up in a Mariott the first night and Keri found one a few miles away from the hospital.  We had some chinese take out and called it a night. The next day we were up bright and early for the MRI.  Let me just tell you Walter Reed is HUGE! We walked for days to find the right part of the hospital where they do the MRI'S. Luckily they had some candy out at the desk because I had worked up an appetite with all that walking! Keri was taken back after about an hour and I nestled into a comfortable seat to wait and of course to gawk at all the men in uniform walking by. Keri got done with his test and we headed back to the hotel. Since we were staying a few days we decided it would be cheaper to stay on Andrews AFB instead of staying in the Mariott. We arrived and man was I impressed with Andrews AFB. Andrew's claim to fame (in my mind) is that it houses Air Force One in one of their hangars. Pretty cool! We checked into TLF and headed back into D.C. Now for someone reason when I told Cambree we were going to Washington D.C. she kept talking about seeing a train.  I had NO IDEA what she was talking about until she said Chuggington.  Chuggington is a show on Disney JR about a train.  Now the train part made sense by I wasn't sure why she thought she would see Chuggington in D.C. She informed me Chuggington lived there. (Duh!) On the drive in she was so excited to see this train. Obviously I was feeling bad because I knew she wasn't going to see this train so as we came close to the city I happen to see a train go by. Thinking quick I told her "Cambree, it is Chuggington." She was SOOOOO excited. She was like it really IS Chuggington.  I was feeling very proud of myself when she asked "Where is Koko??" (Another train from that blasted show!) 

Well we parked the car and headed towards the Washington Monument. I had been to D.C. once when I was a kid.  I only have a few memories of it so I was glad to be back.  We walked around and saw everything in the National Mall. Buddy was soooo happy to run all the way from the monument to the Lincoln Memorial. Coincidentally we were at the Lincoln Memorial on Abraham Lincoln's birthday. After our looooooong afternoon of walking we retired to our TLF room. The next day we decided the white house and the capitol were top on our list of things to see.  We parked our car and walked foooooooooooorevvvvvvvvvver to the White House. On the way we passed a huge group of Asian tourists. They were all smiling at the twins and one stopped and actually took their picture.  Once we got to the white house it happened again. I turned around and an Asian couple TOOK TURNS taking pictures with Cambree.  I smile when I think about them going home to their families and my kids being a part of their vacation to America. We didn't stay long at the white house (Keri turned cranky for whatever reason) and we decided to hop back in the car for the capitol.  Keri dropped Shan and I off and we wandered around the capitol without the kids. After that we were all freezing and tired so we went back to Andrew's.  That night Shan and I drove in the SNOW to meet up with an old friend Michael Priem.  Our families were stationed together in West Point a thousand years ago.  We had a good dinner and had fun chatting! The next morning we got up, Shan and I went shopping at the BX (I think Cambree owns the entire Osh Kosh B'gosh line this year! It is SO cute!) and we headed home.  All in all it was a fun trip! I was glad to check one more thing off our list of places to go visit.  Next up, New York!!!  In the meantime we will wait for the results of the cardiac MRI!