last week

**alexis had cheer practice every day until 6 or 7. they were gearing up for their big game against their rivals, the chopticon braves, that happened last night. they practiced a big halftime show (that i wasn't going to be able to see because christian had a game at the same time and that they finally didn't end up doing because it was too rainy) and a bunch of new cheers. we are still trying to find a balance between cheering, homework, church, chores, family time and facebook. i think all of them are important (well maybe not the facebook!) so i am trying to figure out how to balance what we require of her.

**christian had a baseball game scheduled for wednesday and friday night. the wednesday game got cancelled (just as we were heading out the door) because of rain, but last nights game looked promising. they got through about half an inning before it started sprinkling. it wasn't bad, and it looked like it would just pass right over us, but after about 10 minutes it was pouring and they called a timeout. matt and i had decided to divide and conquer with the babies, he kept frankie (she had a trying day, but we'll get to that soon) because he needed to gear up for a busy work weekend and i took addie to enjoy the games with me and the big kids. after 10-15 minutes the rain stopped and play resumed. until about 7:30 when it started raining again. they tried to power through (again) but finally called it. the grey penguins lost again. :( i don't think christian has ever been on a winning team, and that's hard. he really is a natural athlete, but he definitely doesn't work as hard as he could, and i think it's catching up to him. :(

last week he got to go (i say "got to" but i really had to bribe him with a milkshake to get him to go without grumbling too much) rock climbing with the scouts. they do so many fun activities! and the kids still complain about going! i guess that's just their way. i think/hope he had fun though.

addie had preschool on thursday. they have been learning all about safety. she's known that we call 911 for emergencies because one of her favorite songs is all about that topic, so she wowed her teachers with that tidbit. ;) christina told me about a computer program that works with letters, and addie likes that, but she is still a stubborn girl. i'm not worried, even though she's learning the letters slower than i would like. she's smart in a lot of other ways. :)

she had gymnastics on friday (she loves wearing her "k-leotar-k") where the coach did an assessment. not sure how that went because daddy took them, but he didn't seem to think it went too well. no big deal, this is her first session without mama, she'll get there!

frankie-girl had her 18 month check-up on wednesday. she weighs 22.3 lbs. (50th %) and is 32.25 in. (75%).

silly girl! 

this was right before she pretty much fell backwards off this little step and hit her head. and then i put my camera away.

everything looks good except for her eye. her poor little right eye has been goopy since the day she was born. i've mentioned it at every dr.s appt, and they've told me to massage her nose, but that it should just go away on it's own. i have not been the most consistent nose massager, because i really did think it would just clear up. as an afterthought at this visit, i mentioned that it was still a problem. dr. miller seemed surprised and said that she would probably need an outpatient surgery to correct it. :(

so yesterday i took her up to charlotte hall to visit an opthamologist. they put a patch on each of her eyes to see if she could track a light. she hated it. then they gave her 3 eye drops in each eye (3!). she hated it. i hated it. the nurse hated it. it was no fun all around. the dr. said she really should have had this surgery done at no later than 13 months! that was news to me! now, because she's older, it could require a more extensive procedure including a balloon or a tube being left in her nose for a few weeks. since he was not a pediatric opthamologist, and the surgery could be more complicated than the norm, he didn't feel comfortable doing it. so now we get to go to another dr. (that's further away) and go through the whole consult again. :( 

and then she'll still need surgery. just an outpatient surgery, but still. i know it's not a big deal, but it is a big deal to me. that's my baby.  after she got her eyes dilated, they gave me little tiny sunglasses for her to wear outside (so cute!). she wore them for about 2 minutes and then threw them away while we were in the bathroom. little stinker! i tried to get a picture, but she was so squirmy that it was totally blurry. i had her regular sunglasses but she was still blinded by the light. she curled to the far side of her car seat and was asleep within 5 minutes. my poor baby!

it just makes me so very grateful that my children are all so healthy and we don't have to go through much of this.

matt's had a busy week too. he's got a physical test this weekend, so he's been doing lots of extra swims, which means lots of late days. he's doing scouts now which means we don't see him at all on wednesdays since he goes straight from work to church. then thursday he had lots to wrap up and a late swim, so i ended up putting the little girls to bed before he got home. yesterday he was off and we had a nice day. he took the girls to gymnastics, stayed with addie while i took frankie to the dr, and then stayed with frankie while i took big kids to games. and this morning he's up at 5 to go off to work. have i mentioned that i really strongly dislike his work weekends????

i had my ob appt on tues. everythings looking good and right on schedule. it was a busy week with all of us running here, there, and everywhere and i am feeling that itch that mama is in serious need of a day off. soon, i hope. i'm still on my organizing and cleaning kick. for the first week in a looong time, i actually stuck to my cleaning schedule! it feels so good.

i'm excited for conference this weekend. i just wish matt didn't have to work. i'm coming into this conference prepared with questions that have been troubling me. i've got packets for the kids (big and little) printed out and candy for the bingo.
here's to a restful weekend!!!