Of course...

Of course there would be something to keep it from being revealed Monday morning. Just par for the course. I have spent a total of about 40 hours over 4 days... 6,14,14, and 6 from Thursday to Sunday working on this... and the last 3 hours on Sunday were because everything is inaccessible now and we have to wait on a 3rd party to get things kicked back off for me to finish. Not fun.

In other news, we decided tonight we needed some family time since, considering the hours I put in on that project... I haven't had much of that this weekend. So off we went to Sea World. For about $20 we were planning to drive over, see a few animals, go to the 'late' show (8pm! past the kids' bedtime!!) and then come back home. A great outing for just a few hours. I packed up the kids' PJs, drinks, and diaper bag, we drove through McD's for dinner on our way to Orlando, and wouldn't you know that AS we arrived at Sea World the massive thunderstorms started.

Thankfully we hadn't told the kids WHERE we were going, and they were excited about just the McD's part (even tho we didn't get Happy Meals). We decided to go to Friendly's for ice cream and head back home. We still spent the $20 but instead of paying for parking, we bought ice cream. Ah... well... another night I suppose. We could even go after Mike gets off work one night if the park is open late during the week and there's not supposed to be rain. We really did think the outlook was good for tonight. Lesson learned.

We still got in some family time and the kids were just as excited about ice cream (though try to explain the 45 minute drive for ice cream... I guess it's good the kids don't understand time that well yet! LOL).

We also got Emma's NEW BED today and as I write this she's sleeping soundly, safe, in her brand new twin size bunk bed. What a big girl! Pictures to come... I know several were curious about what the final design might be like. Though we just got it all put together and are using it for the first time tonight, I'm already VERY pleased with how it turned out and I think that a minor adjustment here and there might be found in the coming weeks/months, but overall it's a great plan to keep Emma safe, provide maximum airflow and visibility, have great ease-of-use, and have the ability to grow with her if she no longer needs as high a level of 'protection' in the future. A whole new post on that with photos and descriptions will be coming in the next few days :)

Tomorrow morning is my OB appointment, so hopefully I'll hear the results of the EKG and glucose testing that I had done 2 weeks ago. I don't expect to hear any surprises (I think they probably would have called me if there had been an issue) but it will be good to hear that there's not anything going on. Kristopher's going to come with me to hear the baby's heartbeat and 'help' the doctor :) When my little visitor was with me he came to 2 appointments with me. My OB offered for him to help but he really wasn't interested and hung out in the stroller (which was fine, easier than chasing him down the halls LOL).

Mike's taking Brianna to her follow-up with the ENT tomorrow because it's at the same time as my OB appointment. I hate for him to have to take off work, but it's good for him to be involved with the kids' care and to do a doctor's appointment on occasion! Brianna's doing great, she seems to have bounced back pretty well since surgery but is still a bit more whiney and is definitely about 200% MORE clinging to Mommy since her surgery. Yikes. But I do love her snuggles :) Could do without the following me around wanting to be held and saying 'maaaammaaaaa' with a little sad sob after it and pouting on the floor... oh well...

Mike's taking Emma to a LONG series of x-rays next week too simply because I can't be in the room for x-rays and we don't want her to be scared without one of us there. There will be two sets of x-rays, each said to take about 45 minutes to do. Basically she'll have everything from the neck to her toes done. We'll see the orthopedic doctor the following week and hopefully be able to address a lot of the concerns that we have had brought to us such as leg length difference, hip dislocation, knee dislocation, ankle pronation, foot/ankle asymmetrical bone placement, rotation of the lower leg bone (tibial torsion), and he wants to see her back for scoliosis screening as well. Hmm... her arms might not be x-rayed :) But that and her head are about it. Our PT will be joining us for this visit if she can because she's really curious to hear what he has to say as well... she's been working with Emma for almost a year now but has seen her development since we came home because she works with our other 2 kids (Brianna now aged out of her program tho) as well.

And, just for kicks, Emma's next cardio exam will be the day after her ortho visit- so two big office visits in 2 days. We'll have a thorough echo done, the first complete one in 6 months, and we'll hear whether they plan to do another cath to check pulmonary hypertension levels or whether we'll continue to monitor it as we have with echos. She's also been 'upped' in her blood pressure meds since the last visit but there's hopes of coming off of them. We'll see whether that's a viable option for her.

Now... here's hoping that tomorrow morning my project will be turned back on so I can finish it and release it sometime tomorrow or Tuesday!

Off to bed...