3 in a row?!

One of the hardest things to do as a parent is to see your child in pain. This summer while we were in Canada I noticed a little bump on Courtney in her groin. I did not know what it was but it was there all summer. As soon as we got home I made an appointment with her doctor to go get it checked out and the day we went sure enough there was no bump. When we went into see the doctor I explained the situation and she said it could be a hernia. She had her push out and sure enough it popped right back out. 

She referred us to a general surgeon and we went and had it looked at by him. Of course he confirmed that it indeed was a hernia and that quite possibly there was another one but he wouldn't know until he was in there.

We booked her hernia surgery and it was last week. She was very excited as they told her that she would be able to make a crown and then visit the popsicle room afterwards. 

She was extremely brave and did awesome in the hospital. After the surgery was over in recovery she was very groggy and grumpy. As to be expected. I know the times I have had surgery when I was a teenager waking up in recovery was the absolute worst.

They let us know that they went in with a scope and did the one side and checked out the other side where indeed there was another hernia. There was also an umbilical hernia on her belly button that was very small but he also repaired. Unfortunately there is a chance that they all could come back but it is rare.

The saddest part was when we were tending to her in her bed trying to get her to eat a little bit of her popsicle and she said through her tears "I didn't even want surgery!". It made both brain and I very emotional to see her so sad and so groggy and in so much pain. We brought her home a few hours later and she has just been recovering at home. We set up a bed in our bedroom beside ours for her to land in the first few days she literally couldn't even move. We had to carry her to the bathroom and even that she didn't want to do because of the pain. The doctor gave us a heavy pain medicine but it made her sick(vomiting everything) so we quickly switched to Motrin and Tylenol which helped a lot. 

Finally she has been on the mend it seems although there are still some times where it is very painful for her to move. It just makes my heart hurt to see her crying and in pain. I'm glad we got it fixed though because I know that it could have turned to something worse.

This picture was a few days before her surgery. Let's hurry up and get back to this point where she can move and lean over and play with her baby sister and be happy! We sure love you court.

Boots is the best

Boots turned seven in the summer and he is such a joy to have in our house. 

He is playing baseball this season ends on the Yankees. His team is not very good but he has fun! 

I have been so busy so far this year that I haven't even made it to one game. We also have so many trips planned for the fall I don't know how many games I will even be able to make it too.

I just needed to talk a little bit about how sweet he is. He just rode his bike home from school and when they get home they are always tired and hot.

I myself had just gotten home from the grocery store and had opened the trunk of my van to start unloading groceries. He rides up on his bike about a minute after I had pulled into the driveway and as he goes to park his bike inside the garage says to me in passing "hi mom! Can I come help me with groceries?" 

And honestly this is how he is all the time with his entire life. He is just the sweetest little boy and always thinking of others. In fact last week we move Courtney into his room instead of sharing with Natalie because we know how patient he would be with her. It's hard to share a room with a five-year-old but boots is just the right person to do it. 

Love this kid. 

Start spreading the news

Last weekend Brian and I decided to go to New York City with our friends Jake and Celeste. 

We went over the 9/11 weekend and it was so much fun! We packed so much into a couple of days and I would do it again in a heartbeat!

We started out our trip by heading over to the 9/11 Monument and Museum. You were hungry and didn't have time to stop at a special restaurant so we stopped at McDonald's. We were shocked when we looked up to find a DJ! Only in New York City do you have a DJ at McDonald's!

Ground Zero was a very Spiritual  experience. There were the two pools that represent the two towers that fell and then there was the museum. We spent more than three hours at the museum and didn't even see half of it! There was so much to read and so much to look at.

We heard stories told from those who have survived and stories that have been recorded on voicemails from those who died in both the crash and the towers. We learned all about the hijackers the experiences of those on the airplanes. We cried, we learned, we cried some more. I was so humbled by those helped and served that day. 

We got subway metro cards to get around town and we learned the subway system pretty quick. We also learned how unreliable it was when one train breaks down and our whole world was rocked! The first day we rode all the way down to Yankee stadium because we had Yankees tickets. The train was packed like sardines. I was getting all sorts of other people's sweat all over me. It was hot, sweaty, and so cramped. By the time we finally got to the game we learned that it had been rained out and we couldn't even go!

We headed out for dinner that first night to a very quaint restaurant called Bianca's. I loved it! I thought the food was very unique, and delicious. It was still raining on us so we were soaking wet by the time we got there. After that we headed on over to another restaurant for dessert. Max Brenner's chocolate! It was really good. But then again I always have room for dessert and chocolate!

Day two started out nice and early heading out to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. We took a ferry out there and really enjoy the scenery. It was still very overcast but the weather was beautiful. We didn't get to go up to the crown on the Statue of Liberty but we did go up to the pedestal and got a great view of the city.

The ferry took us over to Ellis Island where we learned about where all the immigrants came through. This was super interesting to learn about and really need to pass the Statue of Liberty after learning how they felt so many years ago when they came over from all the different countries of the world. That's one thing Brian and I have learned is that we love to learn about history together and specifically history of the cities we visit.

Back to the city we headed where we went to Shake shack for lunch. This did not disappoint! The line was out the door and for good purpose. They were the best french fries I have ever eaten. I am definitely a french fry type of girl and these are at the top of my list.

It was September 11 and our hotel was down by ground zero. Everywhere we went there were police officers, at least four or five in every single intersection. Some there were more than a dozen. There were bagpipes and drums that went through the city which was really neat to see. There were memorials and all sorts of tributes in chalk and graffiti all around.

I think this was the day we ended up walking 23,000 steps. We walked all the way down to the Brooklyn Bridge for a little photo op. It's a good thing Celeste brought blister Band-Aids because we all needed them!

After getting cleaned up we had it out for a night on the town at time square. We decided to get tickets to Phantom of the Opera. It was an amazing show! There is so much talent down on Broadway I can't even believe it! I love Phantom of the Opera and that musical to special place in my heart as I have been listening to it since I was a little girl. It made me remember when I was in fourth grade and decided to be Christine Daiei for Halloween one year. We grabbed a slice of pizza before hand because we knew we wanted to go out afterwards.

As we headed back that night Celeste and I both were high heels which was a giant mistake! I thought I would be fine to walk a little bit we were going to walk but with no luck. Our feet were killing us! And that doesn't take into account when I fell down the stairs walking into the subway. Anyway about halfway through our walk home, we both ended up having to take our shoes off and walk barefoot through the city. Let me just say it is the dirtiest city ever! Our feet were disgusting and we swore we were going to get a disease.

Saturday morning we woke up early, at least we tried to wake up early! We wanted to head over to a bakery called Dominique ansel for the famous cronuts. The cronuts were good, but better than those were the DKA. These were amazing! Brian and I sampled just about everything on the menu and this was indeed both of our favorite! Was over in Soho so it was a nice little walk with really pretty parks and trees everywhere.

Then we were off to the temple for ceilings, the temple is right across the street from Centrepark so that of course is where we went next. We rented bikes and rode around Central Park for about an hour. It was so beautiful and I wish we had more time to just get off and enjoy the scenery.

But we knew we had to hurry because we got tickets for the doubleheader on Saturday since there was the rainout earlier in the week. We got back on the subway and headed down there. Unfortunately the Yankees lost both games but it was still fun to be in Yankee Stadium. It sprinkled and rained a little again, and to be honest the ballpark food there wasn't very impressive. But we got to cross off Yankees Stadium from our bucket list!

We were exhausted after all the walking and loading everything in but it was such a fun trip and well worth it! Such a fun unique city and I can't wait to go again! Took off Sunday morning and headed back to our Littles who we missed so much!