The InstaCare Called This Morning

Yesterday when Emma came out of story time at the library, she was limping. I asked Emma what happened and she said "Hurt". I asked Andrew and Toby (our neighbor that goes to story time with us) what happened, but they didn't know. I asked the teacher what happened and she didn't know. I figured she would be okay, just needed some time. When I asked her where it hurt she said "Knee". She has a scraped up knee from a few days ago. It is the only place on her leg that looks hurt. Later when she was still limping, I asked her what happened and she said "Boy". She then would agree with what I said. Did a boy knock you down? Ya. Was it an accident? Ya. Did he help you back up? Ya. Did he say he was sorry? Ya. And then I threw her a curve ball. Did your teacher see it? And she said No.
When she crawled into the kitchen I decided it was time to have a doctor check her out. I took her to the InstaCare and she got this sticker.
She told the doctor her knee hurt and when he checked her leg, she had two different places that she said "Ouch" to. They took four x-rays and the doctor said they looked okay and sent us home.
This morning the InstaCare called. A radiologist looked at the x-rays and thinks she should be put in a splint, just in case. The spot in question is just under her knee.
She is in a splint that starts at the top of her thigh and goes past her toes. She can't put any weight on her leg at least until Monday when she sees an orthopedic doctor. It's a good thing I haven't packed these yet.

How big is Laura?

I just weighed Laura. Fully dressed she is 19 pounds. She is almost 18 months old. Our doctor had us switch her car seats a few months ago. He said that even though she hasn't reached the magical weight of 20 pounds yet, she has good muscle tone and head control. She can have juice occasionally, but for the most part she drinks whole fat milk and an Ensure type product. He told me to give her full fat foods like cheese and yogurt. I can't even find yogurt that isn't low fat. She doesn't feel like it if you pick her up, but she is a pretty good eater.
Here is the funny part. This pink shirt is a size 9 month. It is Carter brand, which I remember with the boys (Emma was smaller too) was a brand that was sized small. So, if the tag said 9 months, they could maybe wear it up until they were 9 months old, but no later than that. Actually this shirt might be a dress, but it fits her as a shirt, so that might also explain the smaller sizing.
The two pictures were taken less than a week apart. This shirt is one I put on her in a hurry one morning. I grabbed it out of the laundry basket, but it is Emma's shirt. It is a size 4T. Emma has, I mean had, two shirts this style. They now belong to Laura. Just another example of my saying, don't trust the tag size.
P.S. The dress I got Emma for Easter is a size 6. Her legs are too long for smaller sizes.

USU Gymnastics Season

We enjoyed going the USU Gymnastics meets again this season. You just can't beat free tickets. The scores are sometimes closer than others, but USU didn't win any of the meets we attended. For a couple of meets Tyler and Andrew started watching the scores and realized that "we" didn't win. When we were in the car on the way home, either mom or dad would ask, "Who had fun?" They said, "Not me, we didn't win." We had a lesson about sportsmanship. (And also told them that USU hasn't won any of the meets we have gone to for the last four years.)
For the last meet this year (the only one I remembered to take the camera to), the boys got invited to watch a movie at the Merrill's house across the street just as we were leaving. They really do have fun at the meets, but of course they went to watch the movie.
The girls sure had fun. It was senior night, and they loved holding up the signs when it was the lone senior's turn.
I caught a shirt. Emma thought it was so cool. She opened it like a present, and Laura enjoyed the ribbon. I actually put the shirt on Emma, but it is an adult size large, so she took it back off. A few minutes later I caught another shirt, well, they threw it into the empty seats on our same row. I gave it to the lady sitting on the row behind us. Lee caught a shirt the week before, but as he caught it the lady sitting behind him scratched him with her fingernails (on accident) because she was trying to catch it too. She said something about her daughter (she was on the team) and Lee gave it to her.
We got a poster signed on autograph night and three of the gymnasts commented to Tyler about his dancing. We were sitting close enough to the bottom that they could see his great moves. He was also on the jumbo-tron a few times too. They told him to keep it up, and that he should be a mascot. It was a great season.

Green Eggs and Ham

I do not like green eggs and ham!
You do not like them. So you say. Try them! Try them! And you may. Try them and you may, I say.
I make green eggs and ham for St Patrick's Day Dinner every year (it might seem like a breakfast food, but that is Lucky Charms). The boys are used to it, Emma needed some persuading, just like in the book. She is probably too young to remember that she ate it that way a year ago.
This year to accompany the green milk, green eggs, and ham (I don't attempt changing its color) we had rainbow muffins. The kids thought it was great, I thought they looked tie-dyed. They were a fun new addition to our food coloring altered dinner.
Andrew and Emma used the shamrock cookie cutter to cut their sandwiches for lunch. I bought the "new color of love" all green m&m's around Valentines (because I remembered last year thinking they had bags of green ones in February, why not in March?!) and put them with some gold wrapped Rolos in a cool container as a delicious display, but that was emptied long ago.
We had a fun day. Except Tyler said he got pinched a lot at school even though he was wearing lots of green. I guess grade schoolers haven't changed.

Parenting Advise

Scott (my brother) and Elise welcomed Gray Douglas Gibby into the world on Sunday, March 7th. (One week past his due date.) Scott and Elise will be great parents! They probably don't need this, but as an activity at her baby shower we wrote down advise and put it in a cute book for future reference. I ended up writing three pages! So, I guess if I post it here, you can also learn from my mistakes. (Is that why I had so much advise to give?)
Not in any specific order, here is the list.
*Enjoy the stage they are in. *Take lots of pictures. *Use shampoo with a pump lid, use all the other soap you get as a refill (babies are slippery when wet). *Don't trust the tag size, especially Carter brand. *Binkys are easier to get rid of than a thumb. Pull the plug like a band-aid, all at once. It will be harder for the parent then the child.*If you want them to keep a hat or bow on, start early. *Use a pre-wash, we like Shout. *Talk to other moms, you are not alone (and sometimes it is nice to hear someone else had a worse day than you did). *Have fun (from Tyler). *Presentation counts, kids might eat better when sandwiches have been cut with a cookie cutter, make apples fry size, cut string cheese and carrots into "coins", etc. *Don't leave pens in a child's reach. *Recycle, especially when they get to be school age. We have a special spot for each kid to hang favorite work, when their spot is full, they have to choose something to take down if they want something new up. *Make everyday fun. *Make a holiday funner than a normal day. *Know the symptoms of Mastitis, don't live with it. *Follow through, for both bad consequences and rewards. *For a tummy ache, rub clockwise. *Don't spank in anger. When upset, clap your hands; you might be surprised how much force you use. *Make stuff (from Andrew, he was talking about daddy making German Pancakes, but it could be crafts (even for boys) and other activities too). *Bath and Body Works sells small hand sanitizers that fit great in a purse or diaper bag and smell lots better that dirty diaper hands. *Every child deserves a mom that will take a shower and put a ribbon in her hair. *Before discipline think "Does this have an eternal consequence?" example: spilling milk-no, telling a lie-yes. *If nursing, (my cousin said, try it for at least eight weeks, don't give up...it is hard.) wear a bracelet that is easy to get on and off, and switch arms that you wear it on, so you know which side to start with during the next feeding. *Patience is a virtue most parents don't have. *Use the free diaper bag from the hospital as a trial run for a few weeks, then you will know what features you like or don't like if you buy a different one. *Adjust the switch in the mother's lounge, so you can hear the talk or lesson. (Yep, that mic the teachers complain about using allows you to hear the classroom.) *Don't be afraid of food coloring. It helps when potty training too, just a drop in the bowl and kids make the color change. *Start saving "pencils" (Tyler means Box Tops and Labels for Education, they both had pictures of pencils, the Campbell's logo just changed). *Baby oil helps get marker and temporary tattoos off skin. *Mr. Clean Magic Eraser works like magic, it can get marker, pen, crayon, and more off walls and furniture. *Check out Signing Time at the library. They make movies that are educational and entertaining. Sign up for Sign of the Week on their website. *Take a time out for yourself, not as a reward. *Laundry (and dishes) are never done. *Don't forget Family Home Evening, family prayer, and family scripture study; make it a habit early. *Don't threaten children with something you won't follow through with. *Go on dates, marriage comes before children.*Something that my aunt said that I really liked was, Each child is different, love them each individually and unconditionally.

So what is your favorite? What advise can you share with me?
P.S. Elise, some of these I didn't write in your book, I just remembered them. Thanks to Laura for reminding me about markers.

Under Contract

We are under contract!! We will be moving into this house the first week of April. It is here in Logan, but on the other side of the city. We will wait to change schools until next year, so we will be doing a lot of driving back and forth during the last two months of school. During the next few weeks we need to buy a fridge. (We would love to buy lots more new furniture, but that will have to wait.) Lee said he would bring home boxes from work today. Maybe that will help this move sink in, it doesn't seem real yet. Move number fifteen, here we come!