Ward Halloween Party!

Here is our crew before our ward's Halloween Carnival and Trunk-Or-Treat. Brenna finally decided on being a cheerleader, and lucky for us, we had a costume!!! (Compliments of the Wendy Bushman family!) I insisted on Cannon being Nacho Libre, and I'm so glad that I did! Brooklyn was forced into a very darling cheer costume. (Complimenets of the Allyson Bushman family! I'd be in trouble if it wasn't for family!)

"Would you like to come to my room for some toast?"

I made most of Cannon's costume. We bought him a luchadore mask in Mexico, and his cape was part of another costume from, you guessed it, FAMILY! So all I needed were the tights with knee patches, underwear and mustache. Could NOT find plain, baby blue tights. So I bought white, and dyed them with food coloring and vinegar. It worked! Who knew!?!? And then afterwards, Ryan helped me sew on the knee patches. I also made a waist band, that had Nacho on it (to cover up the white waist band of the underwear). I thought it turned out pretty great!

And so did everyone at the party, including the costume judges! He won first place in the Kids Costume Contest!!!! I was so proud! And would you look at how he totally takes on the character in this picture! I love his brown eyes and chubby cheeks and pouty lips.

Brenna was VERY excited to be a cheerleader, which goes with her costume! And we also surprised her with an early birthday present of new "gym shoes" that would go with it. She has needed some, so it worked out and she was again, VERY excited to get something new! (Not just from the family!)

Brooklyn was a very adorable cheerleader. She loved walking around and seeing the booths and the costumes. Before this picture, she enjoyed a tootsie roll. She is such a fun and FUNNY little girl! I just love her.

Meet Canibal Jack-O-Lantern! They also had a pumpkin carving contest, and we wont 2nd! We looked a pictures online of AMAZING jack-o-lanterns, and Brenna picked this one! I thought it was very clever. Yay for 2nd place!

Get thee Hence Tonsils!

We checked in at 7am, and Cannon was full of his Cannon-Energy! He was so excited to show Dr. Orgill his Buzz-Lightyear Pajama's! I came prepared with his 2 favorite blankets, his Buzz and Woody action figures, and thank goodness his prep room had a tv. He would have gone bonkers without some entertainment!

This was post-Versaid. It was an oral solution drug that helps you "relax". He acted completely drunk!!! It was hilarious. I got several videos, and I'll find one to put on here. He kept saying, "Mom, this is soooo cool." (Slurred speech also!) And at one point he wanted me to lay down with him, and when my face was next to his, he started to giggle. He started rubbing my face right by my eye, and said, "You have three eyes mom! And its right there!" It was some comic relief for a long, rough day!

The surgery went well, and when "Dr. Orgill" (also a good family friend) let us go back to see him after, he was a MESS! He was screaming, with his eyes still closed, just thrashing around. I could barely hold him, but thats all I wanted to do! When he finally became coherent, he kept saying, "I WANT IT OFF!!!" And he meant his IV. They had this brace over it, to protect it. One of the nurses drew some "Buzz Lightyear" buttons on it, but that didn't help. She bribed him with trading taking his meds and she will take the IV off. It worked, and that was the first time he sat quietly since surgery.

Here is the un-happy Cannon with the IV still in. Ugh, looking back I feel soo bad!

Once he got the IV out, he did much better. We even got him to eat like 4 popsicles in this post-Op room. And when Dr. Orgill came in to check, we asked if we could go home, and he sent us on our way a couple hours early. Thank goodness!

Since then: For the first 5 days I kept him on a schedule of taking his pain meds. He was a very unhappy boy, slept horribly, wouldn't eat, and I thought he was in so much pain. Nope! He is part of a small percentage of kids who instead of the pain meds to be a sedative, it is a stimulant! So when he was waking up in the middle of the night 3-4 times, it wasn't out of pain, it was out of being wired! And once I got him off of the hard stuff and on to Tylenol, he slept great, and in a few days seemed to be getting better. Besides a few bites here and there, for the first 11 days he didnt' eat anything other than popsicles and frozen gogurts. And poor boy, he was sooo constipated I thought I was a midwife delivering a baby!!! But on about day 13, he came to me in the morning and said, "Mom! I'm hungry!" And said it for the rest of the next few days, eating anything and everything. And now he is back to his normal self, but thankfully sleeping great!!!

What I always wanted

Growing up, we were not allowed to have a trampoline. My parents both worked in Emergency Rooms during their medical careers, and have seen WAY too many accidents to have a healthy perspective on recreational activities. We did not own a trampoline. We could not go sleding behind a car or 4-wheeler (which was common in our neighborhood). We still are banned from motorcycles. I still have the fear of my parent's wrath in me.

But I broke one of their rules. I gave my kids what I always wanted. A trampoline. Granted, it is a mini, that is only about a foot and a half off the ground. And is small enough in circumfrence to make any extreme behavior impossible. Hopefully! But the kids love it, and have been outside jumping almost every day, for hours at a time. They LOVE it! Therefore, by default, I love it too!

Goodbye Tonsils

Cannon is getting his tonsils and adenoids removed tomorrow morning. The more I have talked with friends and read online accounts, the more benefits I see out of getting this done. I've read from many people that it helps behaviorally, because they are no longer sleep deprived. One friend said her daughter's hearing improved because her passageways could drain properly and were clear to hear. Unless Cannon is a well-behaved, attentive, mild mannered, great listener, young man after this surgery, I'M DEMANDING A REFUND! Really, we are doing this for his sleep. He snores, and wakes up repeatedly at night, and is not rested when he wakes up. If that can improve, then I will be a happy mom! He also has a sensitive gag reflex, which makes sense when you have golf balls at the back of your throat! I saw with my own eyes. His tonsils are touching. The medical community thinks that if they assign it a cute name like "Kissing Tonsils" the gross factor disappears. Not so. His poor crowded uvula is squished between two engorged tonsils, and needs some breathing room.

Anyway, so that is whats happening tomorrow. I have tried my best to prep him the best way I can. I took him to the store, and let him pick out his Popsicles and yogurt drinks, and pediasure. I took him to the library to pick out a few movies and books. We also got him special hospital pajama's, Buzz Lightyear, that he gets to wear there. I've also gone to the extent of showing him how I give myself shots (daily for the past week, vitamin b12 shots) to show him that needles aren't scary, they help give medicine to your body. And it doesn't hurt that he really likes his ENT who's performing the surgery, he's a close family friend. He will be pretty upset when he realizes that the hospital isn't a vacation, and what actually goes on there! But tonight, we wanted to get a video of him talking. We remember with both a niece and a nephew of ours, their voices changed a little after a tonsillectomy. And I love his deep (for a 3 year old) raspy voice. So, enjoy!

Soccer Saturdays!

Our once relaxing and mundane Saturday has turned into a soccer bonanza. (And September was filled with 6 birthday parties between Cannon and Brenna, all being on Saturday squeezed in between 2 soccer games!) I don't know how friends of mine who have 4-5+ kids do it! It is exhausting!!! But we make do, and enjoy watching our kids learn a new skill, and participate in some level of competition. While Brenna plays, Cannon entertains himself and Brooklyn by playing with the flags.

Brooklyn, no doubt, leaves with grass or mud stains on her pants. It is a filthy family outing, but many times very exciting and entertaining.

Cannon's first game was exhausting and draining. For all involved! He refused to play 98% of the time, till the last 2 minutes when he ran and kicked and played like everyone else. Since then, he has slowly improved and actually got his FIRST GOAL last Saturday!!! He still struggles with a wandering eye and short attention span. But instead of being a painful experience, it is somewhat enjoyable, and has glimpses of some promise of soccer sticking with Cannon.

Brenna is doing AMAZING! She loves it, and is much more aggressive then her demeanor suggests. She plays teams with mostly boys, who are a good head taller than her. Her team is made up of ALL girls, so they usually lose, but Brenna is by far the stand-out player. She got the teams first goal last week also! It was an amazing goal. She stole the ball from the other team, took it down the entire field by herself, and scored! She had a similar steal, then fast break, but missed the goal. She seems to really enjoy it, and we LOVE watching her learn and excel.

Brooklyn laughing...and walking!

Brooklyn was highly entertained by herself walking. Even with her first steps, she just giggled! She knew she was discovering something new, and couldn't contain her excitement. It was contagious! She laughed with every step, and we laughed with her! Ryan's brilliant idea of recording her while attached to the tv, so she could see herself on the screen, made it better! We could capture her pure joy on film! Enjoy!

MC Hammer

Can you see the excitement on my face?!!? My love of old school hip hop and rap was re-ignited once I learned that Ryan scored 2 VIP tickets to see MC Hammer at the Oklahoma State Fair. We sat in a roped off section of metal chairs, that was highly guarded. I'm serious, there was this massive muscly lady that took her job VERY seriously. Anyhoo, it was first come first serve, and we got on the 3rd row on the right of the stage. Which was the BEST place to be, we found out as the night progressed!

My VIP Badge. We joked that they ran out of ink, cause Mr. Hammer was looking a little pasty!

The diva himself, Hammer, was about 30 minutes late. But we "enjoyed" a performance from the Oklahoma City Thunder girls. I decided that the only criteria of making the team is the ability to do a booty pop for 3 1/2 minutes straight. Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders, have to do the jump split. Thunder girls, booty pop. And that's about it!

Concert started off on a high note, and kept you out of your seats the rest of the time! During his ballad section, him and his crew started throwing out long stem red roses. I HAD to get one. The poor guys throwing them, would aim at some lovely ladies...and they would without fail, float into the hands of some dudes! But I eventually got one!

And, it is drying in our coat closet as we speak.

Mr. Hammer, it is like 20 years haven't passed and you are back in your glory days!


At one point, he brought his entire entourage out into the crowd, and they were about 3 rows behind us! It was awesome!

Although we couldn't get a picture with MC, we got the next best thing, a picture with his sweaty back up dancers. I was so grateful I had Ryan's co-worker Alicia as my partner in crime! When you have someone to act a fool with, it is much easier!

Close to the close of the concert, his security and back stage detail started pulling people from the front row. Alicia and I made our way up there, and was soon placed in the holding pen to be herded up on stage to dance with MC Hammer! I was SO excited!!! There were about 20 of us, and after we made our way up to the stage, we saw the OKC Thunder Girls, looking rather irritated at center stage as well. I asked one, "Do you know what we're doing?" And she snarkily replied, "WE were supposed to dance..." Meaning, get off the stage and let us perform what we no doubt took time to choreograph and practice in preparation of dancing back up to a hip hop legend!!!!

(Holding Pen...yup, I'm still dancing!)

Finally made it on stage!!!

Mr. Hammer, about the same instant that I touched him. It was a beautiful moment, where all of his funkness and get-down-ability was transferred into my being, and I am now an official hip hop dancer.

See! I know how to work it! There were several stage moms and performing kids that made their way to the front. But I wasn't about to lose my time in the lime light. I managed to make the front of the stage with enough time to show off my Hammer moves, before the song ended! (And then the heavily oppressed cheerleader in me rallied at the end of the song and my dancing. It's innate, I couldn't help it. Cheering crowd, exciting performance, I had to jump around like I was back in college!) It was a night and experience never to forget. We had a blast. And soon after the adrenaline wore off, I hobbled back to the car with Ryan. Thank you MC Hammer for a GREAT show!