A Most Horrifying Experience

But first, some cute pictures!

Hanging out with his girls at the free concert in the park

Hailey loves to hold the baby, they have started having conversations

My new stroller...I need to lose 17 lbs in 3 weeks inorder to fit into my work clothes

Last week was our week of doctor appointments.

Aubrey's ultrasound was uneventful - I still have no idea if anything was found, and am assuming that the pediatrician will have the results and discuss them with me at her 2-month check up (whichis next wednesday - can you believe that!?)

Tuesday was the ENT for Aubrey's ear tag. I haven't talked much about her ear tag - it wasn't anything major (you can see it in some of the pictures Lauren took) but it was weird and we wanted it removed as soon as it could be. I don't know what I thought was going to happen at the ENT appointment, but it was the MOST horrible thing I have had to do/see as a mother so far....

I was about 20 minutes late for the appointment - which is a big no-no here - but the phone people didn't tell me that ENT was at the NASA clinic, so I went to the hospital. I don't know where the NASA clinic is, and the map I was given had been copied so many times, it was unreadable, not to mention the hospital I was in was not on the map. I have no sense of direction anyway, Jon wasn't answering his phone, but I managed to figure it out by leaving the base and driving around to go in the NASA gate. Anyhoo, the doctor came right in and she was super nice. She looked at it and determined that she could just cut it off. I said "Like, right now?" and she said yes, or that I could make another appointment and come back. It is not easy to get appointments, so I went with right now - all the while starting to panic and hoping that Jon would answer his phone and magically materialize to take care of this for me. He did

answer the phone but told me he could not get there, he had to debrief.

The doctor explained what she was going to do, so I was aware of what was going to happen. She gave the baby a shot of lidocaine and she screamed. I hoped that was going to be the worst of it and she wouldn't feel the rest...but that was not the case.

It is upsetting me to even write this.

Next came the clamp which sort of squeezed it flat right where it attached to her head - I have never seen a baby turn that color or scream that loud - mind you I am holding her down. The doctor left at this point to go get someone to help hold her because I was doing a bad job and probably looked like I was going to lose it ( not sure what "it" is but I definitely was very close to tears and throwing up) Now it was time to cut it off, which she did with a very small and very sharp scissor like thing. More screaming - and it wasn't over...the doctor needed to trim it THREE times. I wanted it to look as good as possible, but sheesh. Then it wouldn't stopbleeding so she had to cauterize it, which of course caused more screaming. Its been a week now and it is still healing but looks really good and doesn't seem to bother her at all.

The third appointment was my 6 week check up. I am fine and healed nicely and able to run and swim and...do other things...again. I had developed a very itchy allergic reaction to something around my incision about 2 weeks prior to that appointment. It wasn't bad at first, and Jon kept assuring me that itching was a good thing and meant I was healing. It got worse every day, but I knew I had that appointment so just waited till then. The doctor told me she had no

idea what I could be allergic to - I have no allergies and it didn't start until a month after my surgery. She gave me hydrocortisone. It didn't help at all and by Friday I couldn't stand it anymore. I was contemplating using the spray we use on Rolo when he is itching, so I called and got an appointment with a Flight doctor. That doctor and another one both had no idea what it was but he gave me zyrtec and some other really strong steroid cream. Its getting better now, but still not perfect and the zyrtec makes me even more tired than I already am, which means I am really not a nice person right now!

In other news, the girls are doing great. Hailey had parents night at gymnastics so I was able to go in and take some pictures.

Hailey starts preschool on September 7th and is extremely excited. She is going 3 half days a week. I bought her some workbooks and these BrainQuest card things and we have been doing them at home. She loves them - she asks to do her workbook all the time, and today I finally feel like she is starting to recognize her numbers. She can count and say her ABC's but has had no interest in trying to learn any letter other than H (her letter) and 3 (she is that many). She amazes me at how much she knows and remembers and how quickly she learns.

I got her to start going to bed in her bed again, but it only lasts about 2 hours and then she sleeps on the couch. I will fix this somehow, someday. Our next house not going to have an upstairs. Jon and I were talking about how wrong this house is for us and I pointed out to him that we all live in half of our house - we don't use the upstairs for anything - its a big storage area.

Aubrey is growing growing growing. She smiles now, and we love her smile - it is goofy and crooked and adorable. Her daytime sleep is starting to organize and she sleeps well at night, just not for any significant period of time, and usually by 3 am she is done sleeping in her bed and I have to hold her.

This is our neighbor Martina - we call her the Baby Whisperer - both girls just adore her

She is doing much better on Soy Formula. She spits up less and doesn't seem to be in pain. I hate the way it smells though, so I hope we don't have to use it forever!