Adventures in Urology...

I know it's titles like these that keep you coming back for more. Ha. And you know it's an extra creative night when I combine Fall pictures with fascinating urology talk. Hey, I like to keep you on your toes (or, it's just been a really long day). Since I'm not known for blog consistency lately, at least I can get some points for efficiency, right?

Yeah, that's it.

Hey, just be glad that I'm sharing old Fall pics instead of urology ones. :)

So we're a pretty popular family in the Pediatric Urology Department at St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis. You might remember that Jack and Tess were born with a genetic condition called urinary reflux. We spent several years following up with Jack's bladder and kidney health, until he finally had surgery to correct his reflux in 2005. With each baby, we thought we might encounter the reflux again (all of our kids statistically have a 1 in 3 chance), and we went through much testing during pregnancy and in the newborn stage to rule out any signs of the condition. Tess's reflux was a little more difficult to determine, was much less severe, and lasted a much shorter amount of time compared to Jack's. She successfully grew out of it in time (as many patients do), and we were released about a year ago from any further treatment for her, as long as symptoms stay at bay. Compared to so many other more serious health-related issues, we are so very thankful to have dealt with something completely fixable! Through years of treatment, we have actually enjoyed getting to know the amazing Dr. Rink and his staff. So many visits and phone calls later, his receptionist even refers to herself as "Aunt Trina" to our kids. We visit an office when upon entering we are humbled beyond words: where many children are there to treat urological issues that have resulted from things like spina bifida, brain injuries and the like. I don't think there has been an appointment that I have walked out of when I haven't been brought to tears. It's a powerful thing seeing such bravery displayed by such little ones. The office staff used to joke with us that they'd miss us until the next kid came along, and then surely we'd see them again for something. Funny joke, until it came true almost every time. :)

And just like clockwork, this Friday we'll go back for Chase, who will have surgery to repair an ascended testicle (uh, you can go back to looking at pictures now if you want). No kidding.

If I didn't feel so sorry for the guy, it would almost be funny. Seriously, what are the chances? He's five and a thinker. Just old enough to be scared because he knows what surgery is, and not quite old enough to know that he'll want to thank Dr. Rink someday for the opportunity to have everything in it's proper place and working like it should. So we're not telling him. Not yet anyway. He would think and worry and ask all the revealing questions all week long. He knows he has an appointment, and we'll share the rest of the news with him right after he drinks his loopy meds in surgery prep. Yes, that sounds like the perfect time to tell him. Thank goodness for loopy meds. And for that silly Theodore the Chipmunk stuffed animal that he's dying to have from the grocery store (that I'm going to pull out of my purse to distract him at just the right time when he figures the whole gig out). P.S. These hard working boys don't get paid an allowance on a regular basis (because don't you know, we're all family here), but for this pile of leaves? One dollar.

And a happy heart.

Five years ago...

I was wondering if I would go into labor during the Easter service at church. :) I do remember having a few contractions, but Chase held on five more days, just so he could follow two important Daugherty baby trends - being late, and officially weighing over nine pounds. Thanks buddy. Not that I'm complaining... I should just be thankful that we made it to the hospital in time that day. The crazy kid was born thirty minutes after we walked through the hospital doors (uh, that would include registration and all), just after Tyler hyperventilated and I lost complete sanity. But oh, was he worth it! Thanking God for my third, sweet, almost Kindergartener boy today (who is napping now, hopefully recovering from his party at preschool, followed by a fun lunch playdate with three of his boy classmates...).

Happy 5th Birthday, Chase Dylan!!

Thinking about stuff like...

... how each family member adds their own little flair to our house.

...how glad I am that God made two year-olds so cute,

to combat all the other times when they're... well... a handful.

...how much my kids mimic and learn from each other.

... how every day being a mom is worth it, even when it's hard.

... how much more I need to learn about what's really important in my days.

...that E.E. Cummings was right - "The most wasted of all days is one without laughter."

This kid...

... belted out a Natalie Grant song playing on K-Love today, word for word, and it might have been the sweetest thing I've ever heard.

Speaking of K-Love, he has a boy named Caleb in his Cubbies class at church, and every Wednesday night on our way out the door, he says to me, "Ca-wub is in my class Mom. His name is Ca-wub, not K-Love. You know that, right, Mom? You know, he's the boy, and not the radio??". Every Wednesday night, without fail.

That made me remember the time, a few months ago, when I caught him matter-of-factly rambling to himself in the van: "I.... don't like loud cars. I.... don't like driving. I... don't like people. I... don't like positive, encouraging K-Love".

I had his first Pre-K conference with his teachers this morning, and came out appreciating him in a whole new way. He's the middle kid at home, always trying his best to fit in with whomever will include him. At preschool, he's a four year old leader, everyone's friend, a girl chaser, smiley, expressive, smart guy, with his very own identity. He's not compared to anyone else. He's just Chase. And he's a teacher's dream come true.

Who knew?

I love that each of my kids has their very own personality. Strengths and weaknesses. Today I realized that in the busyness of the season (of the year, and in this season of my life), I've focused a lot on what each child needs, instead of who they are. Does that make sense?

So tonight, instead of keeping track of how much food was left on his supper plate...

I listened to him giggle while he told jokes to his big brothers in between bites.

I noticed that he calls his sister "Girl" way more than he calls her "Tess". It's an affectionate term, and he used it a lot while he played trains with her under the kitchen table while I cleared the supper dishes.

He fell three times in a row running through the house, bonking elbows and knees. He asked Trey to wrestle him probably four times after supper. He didn't cry any of those times.

He joined Jack, Trey and two neighbor boys in scooter races (on their bottoms!) down the driveway tonight. When he saw that the youngest friend was sad because he hadn't won yet, he purposely slowed down and let him beat him from then on.

He begged to read Joshua, our current nightly reading in the Bible. I'd skip many a night if it wasn't for his persistence.

Ends up he didn't finish his supper tonight. He got dessert anyway. I'm probably going to pay for that, but it just felt like the right thing to do...

Getting in our 20 minutes a day...

Missin' the boys...

These three are beyond excited to be on their first guy trip ever... a fishing trip to Wisconsin with my dad. Luckily Trey got the deodorant talk from his dad last week, just in time for a week of fish guts and a race to see who can go the most days without a shower. I'm back with the little ones who aren't quite ready to make the trip, and we've realized today (um, that would be day one) that our entertainment has left us for the week. I made the mistake of telling Chase that we would be doing some fun things of our own while the boys were gone, and he has taken that statement very literally. When I told him that it was time for lunch today, he said, "But I thought we were only doing fun things while the boys are in Wisconsin."

Yikes.

In other exciting news... after a run-in with the bathroom stall door at Chuck E. Cheese (don't ask... I knew I didn't like that place), I am spending my spouse-free time Googling images of broken fingers. My fun activity for the day was consoling a toddler and a preschooler in the smallest exam room ever while the doc stuck a needle - twice - through my black fingernail to try to relieve some pressure in my huge finger. I'm off for x-rays in the morning, but according to Chase, that sounds like a blast, so mark one up for his fun list.

Glad I could accommodate him.

Today is someone's birthday...

...and he's FOUR!

Happy Birthday, darlin'!

Letter of the day...

Changing Chase. I can almost see the wheels spinning in this kid's mind some days. Sometimes he loves being silly with Tess, doing everything to make her laugh, content to play simple baby games with her. Other times he really wants to learn things. Hard things, like Jack and Trey. He spends most days talking non-stop, asking what something is, or how it works, or why it does that.

His questions the last couple of weeks have centered around letters. He really wants to read. He sees the older boys spending lots of time in books, and will curl up with his own, making up the story as he goes. He has memorized some of our favorite reads, and will now point to words and "read" along as he turns the pages. "What's this word, Mommy?," I hear him ask, about 20 times a day.

He knows his letters quite well, and can write most of them without thinking. But I realized that we still have a few letters that we've not practiced the sounds of yet. So I'm a mommy on a mission, trying to take advantage of the momentary motivation of my almost four year old sponge. :) So we're tackling a "letter of the day," each morning after the big boys get to school. We're keeping it super simple... mostly so he doesn't get frustrated! I spent a few dollars at Wal-Mart and got him his very own supplies (way cooler to know that they're all his instead of someone else's leftovers, trust me):

Crayons, glue (the colored, sparkly kind, for sure), scissors, a bound notebook of 3x5 cards, and a Crayola Beginning Alphabet and Numbers pack... We start off by practicing writing the letter of the day. While he's writing, we say the sound or sounds the letter makes, and take turns shouting out words that begin with that letter. I've found that a little excitement can go a long way... he doesn't even realize he's learning half the time. It's more like a silly word game with his nutty mom (silly voice inflections and all!).

We found some larger letters in fish shapes online, and printed them off to color and cut out (what a great way to sneak in a couple of other skills to practice!). After he colors and cuts out the capital and lower-case versions of the letter of the day, he glues them into his 3x5 flip book, that we fondly titled, "Chase's Letter Book." What's great about this is that he can flip through and review each letter that we've covered. He loves looking through it and seeing how much he's accomplished! Best of all, I get some planned special time with my sweet boy, who might otherwise feel a little lost in the crowd...

"3"

I have two days before a little girl in the house turns one year old, and with all of her birthday planning, I realized I had forgotten to blog about a very important day (oh geesh, if you must know, at the end of April!) when a very grown-up boy turned 3!

Funny how life with four kids changes you. Seriously, I never thought I would be thinking about stuff like equal blogtime for my kids. :) But with each unique personality and relationship that God has given us with our kids, I do think about equality. And how much attention each one gets. And who I read to last, and for how long. And whose turn it is to fetch me a diaper. And how much each one ate at supper, and when they pottied last.

I did it with one, so I'm guessing that you do it too.

But the funnier thing about all of this is that I like the idea that many children leads to less equality. Because in a loving way, it's healthy for them to know that it's not all about them all of the time.

Yes, I realize this is a birthday post. Are you still with me? :)

All mom-guilt aside, the point is, Chase is 3. And he's quickly going on whatever age Jack and Trey are acting like on any given day.

I remember "3" with the other boys. And I'll admit, it makes me cringe a little bit. Tyler adores this age. I seem to have less patience for it for some reason. But with a bit more experience this time around, I'm soaking up all the cuteness I can, because there sure is a lot of it. And I'm convinced that in God's great wisdom, he made "3" the cutest age, so you can live through those 3 year old moments when they forget all about being cute.

I like to say that Chase is the oldest three year old I have ever had. He likes to run with the big boys. He does more, knows more, and says more stuff than the other two ever did at this age. Trying to be big brings him much happiness a lot of the time, and much frustration the rest of the time. Because three year olds can't always do what 6 and 7 year olds do, no matter how hard they try.

He's into Scooby Doo big time, and says the word "Like..." way too often because Shaggy Rogers is his hero. He talks about going to preschool this fall, but he doesn't know what August means in terms of timeframe, so he asks every day if "today is the day" when he will go. He loves to cook with his momma, and would bake cupcakes every day if I said yes. He talks nonstop, and entertains us constantly with his made-up songs, usually to the tune of the Star Wars theme song ("I-have-to-go... to-the-potty.... yes-I-do..."). Oh, and speaking of Star Wars, he knows more about the characters than I do. His memory amazes me.

Chase loves to play dress-up. Lucky for him, the third time around I've decided to choose my battles, so he even gets to wear his Spidey outfit to the store on occasion. He wants candy for breakfast every morning, and never tires of asking, even though I've told him "no" every day for the last 58 days straight. Chase has a very special relationship with his daddy. They often run errands together or go out to breakfast, just the two of them. And when he's not with his dad? Well, let's just say that I have a shadow closer than Peter Pan's.

Did I mention that he's cute?

And really stubborn.

If I try to open the door for him, he gets frustrated and tells me to shut it because he wants to open it. Then he (fumbling and taking what seems like forever) opens it for me, and says, "The gentleman always helps the ladies."

And the cute factor wins again.

He's silly and smart, which might just turn out to be a pretty good mix when he gets his emotions in check. Whenever that might be. My guess is it's not happening at "3".

But you never know. This one could be different.

Then again, he always repeats everything his brothers say.

Chase Dylan, my sweet third boy.

Thanking God for you, and for "3".

The Boilers Win....The Boilers Win!!!!!!!

I knew it could work! I don't want Chase to take all the credit....the coaches did have a couple of great play calls in the last quarter. But the Boilers broke the losing streak today! I decided rooting for Purdue wasn't enough -- it was time to dress Chase for the game....and if need be, send him in as quarterback! It was a thrilling victory. Sorry the streak is over, Michigan, but if someone was going to end it for you, I'm glad the Boilers could do it! Hail Purdue!!!!

This is huge, folks...

Guess who started wearing big boy undies this week?!

Oh yeah babe (in Chase's words).

I wondered if maybe it was a bit early, and frankly thought I was busy enough (read landlocked) feeding a baby girl many times throughout the day. So when I ignored him, what did Chase do? He started asking Trey to take him potty. Yeah. Thanks, Trey, for being Chase's biggest cheerleader. Yes, you can have some M& M's too. I'm sure that's not your only motivation. Three down, one to go. Sweet.