Thursday, December 8, 2016

More Crazy Things They Say

I offered to do something for Russell, and he said "ok."  Then he changed his mind and ran away from me saying "NO-K!"

We were about to go in a store and I nicely told the boys, "My patience is running out, so please, behave yourselves."  Caleb said, "I'll try to get your patience back for you."  It made me laugh, and then he said with a big smile, "See, did that give you a little patience back?"  It sure did!

Russell:  Mom, I think a red wall in the basement would look good.  (We were watching Fixer Upper.)

Russell:  Mom, I wish I didn't have a nose so I couldn't smell stinky stuff.

Caleb, holding a half-grown little chicken:  It's ok, it's ok, Papa has you, Papa has you.

Russell, snuggling a dog that we were dog-sitting for the morning:  It's ok, Mommy's here.  [Referring to himself as Mommy, of course.]

I was telling Russell how lucky he is, because Caleb is only a big brother, and Zach is only  a little brother, but Russell is a big brother AND a little brother.  He said, "No, I'm a medium brother!"

Russell:  Mom, if the world were upside down, we'd be walking on the ceiling.

Russell, crawling on the floor following me:  Mom, I'm going to be like Dolly, because Dolly follows you.  [It's true.  Dolly can always be found at my feet.]

Caleb asked if plants go to the bathroom.  I taught him about photosynthesis.

We were talking about what it would be like to live in Narnia, where animals can talk, and I told Caleb that I always wondered what Hank would have to say.  Caleb said, "Dolly might have a very beautiful voice."

Caleb:  Mom, blink your eyes.  [I blink and he runs around the corner.]  I'm gone!  So fast you couldn't even see!

Caleb:  Mom, if there ever were a WWIII, I would definitely fight in it.

Caleb:  Mom, there's this store called Ross and if you go there you can buy shoes that make you run REALLY fast.  That's what Blake told me.  It's a secret.

Neighbor boy:  Yeah, my dad is really smart.  Caleb:  Smarter than my dad!

Caleb:  Mom, can we make a robot for Granddad that will do everything for him?  Like clean, and make dinner?

Russell, talking about Spot It, a game where you try to collect cards:  One time I played by myself and got TWENTY CARDS!

Caleb:  Mom, it's just a miracle that life is real!

Caleb, upon finding a penny on the parking lot ground:  I guess it's my lucky day!

Caleb:  If Auntie Jenna never has kids, we should give her someone.
Me:  Who would we give her?
Caleb, thinking:...Maybe I'll give her me!!

Russell:  What if this was a rule, if everyone found a bug, they would be their pets!  What do you think about that?

Russell:  You know what happened?  I found so many bugs today!  I think today is Bug Day.

Caleb:  Mom, we're lucky that we don't have to be eaten, because lots of other animals have to.

Russell:  Mom, I just feel like I need to draw beautiful things.  [Then he drew a necklace.]

Caleb was telling me that our neighbors feed their chickens watermelons, and I said our new ducks might like watermelon, too.  Caleb said:  Oh!  We should trial foods with them!

Russell:  Mom, if you lick your elbow, it tastes like chocolate!  That's what Joey says.  [Joey is a preschool friend.]

Russell:  My pocket smells like centipedes!  [Guess why....]

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Zach is ONE!

Happy first birthday to my sweet baby Zacher-bee!

(Let's try to ignore the fact that this blog post is being published 4 months after his actual birthday...I'll be stating his stats and milestones as they were on his actual birthday.)

At 12 months old, Zachary:

  • Weighs 20 lbs 12 oz, which is in the 40th percentile!  He jumped 15% from three months ago!  (That's because we let him go to bed with his bottle, and he eats a whole lot more that way...but we're working on replacing his bedtime formula bottle with a water bottle so his teeth don't rot out.)
  • Measures 29.75 inches, which is in the 45th percentile!  That's a 13% jump from three months ago!  That's also just a quarter of an inch away from his infant car seat's max height, so two days after his birthday we put him in a rear-facing convertible car seat.  
  • Has a head in the 71st percentile.
  • As of his birthday, wears size 12 months clothes.  These are the same clothes that Caleb and Russell wore when they turned 2!  That's because Zach weighs almost as much as they did when they turned 2!  That's crazy to me!
  • Uses walking as a way to get around over 50 percent of the time.  He began walking at 11 months, and was a pro by one week after he turned 1.  Caleb and Russ were 16.5 months and 15.5 months old when they started walking, so this is also crazy to me!
  • Can finally slide backwards down the stairs.
  • Has six teeth (four on top and two on bottom).
  • Says one word--Uh oh.  And he says it all of the time, at the appropriate time.
  • Loves eating lots of things.  But he loves fruits the most, so we have to give them to him after he's eaten other things, or else he will eat nothing but fruit.  He's got his momma's sweet tooth.  ;)
  • Is a super sleeper.  He continues to sleep 11 hours each night, and when he wakes up he drinks a bottle and goes straight back to bed for another hour or more.  His morning naps are hit and miss, but he almost always sleeps for at least 3 cumulative hours during the day.
  • LOVES any and all animals.
  • Is seriously easy to make laugh.  The kid has a laugh bubbling up inside of him at all times, waiting to get out.  Since a very young age, he has thought having me "eat" his hands and feet was the funniest thing ever, and he still thinks so!
  • Enjoys playing with balls and cars most.  There are a few chewy toys that he adores, too.  His brothers at this age always got tired of toys after playing with them for a few days, but the more Zach plays with toys, the more he seems to like them.
  • Sleeps with a little bear head/blanket thingy that we call "Buddy Bear."  He loves seeing Buddy and hugging him close when he lays down in his crib.
  • Plays well with his brothers and really enjoys interacting and observing other people.  
  • Is clearly attached to his family, but still isn't afraid to leave us and meet new people.  
  • Is sweet and spunky and adored by all.  He is the perfect addition to our family and we are so glad that God blessed us with him!
 He had a bumble bee birthday party, because he's our Zacher-bee!

Progression of cake discovery:








The following pictures start in May and go back, in order, to March.
























Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Kid Quotes Again!

Caleb, asking for my help catching Zach before he got to the stairs: "MOM!  We need you!  You save all the days!"

Caleb, while trying unsuccessfully to open the child-proof cap on the gummy vitamins:  "How does it know I'm a CHILD?"

Caleb's favorite movie is Milo and Otis.  It used to be on netflix, but they discontinued it some time ago.  We checked it out from the library, and Caleb was sad when we had to return it.  He asked Nate, "Can you invent it to come back onto Netflix?  At work?  On Monday?"  (Sorry, Cal, I know Daddy can do lots of cool things on the computer, but Daddy doesn't work for Netflix!)

Russell, out of thin air, "Mom, if you see a poptart on the road, you should crash into it."

Caleb:  What would be crazy is if I had the stickiest feet in the world, as sticky as the stickiest gummy bears, and the stickiest ice cream, and I could climb on the ceiling.

Caleb:  Mom, does it take longer for you to grow up if you were a preemie?  [Yes, Caleb, it does!  What a clever little thinker!]

Caleb:  Dogs only have first names.
Me:  Dolly's last name is Purser, because she's in our family.
Caleb:  But what about a middle name?
Me:  We can give her one!  How about Face?  Dolly Face Purser.
Caleb:  Haha!  But she needs to be named after someone.
Me:  We could name her after you!
Caleb:  Dolly Caleb Purser.  But that won't work because it says 'Caleb Purser,' and that's ME!
Me:  Dolly Cal Purser.
Caleb:  YEAH!

Russell:  I think the moon is happy because the moon is smiling!

Russell, in a condescending tone:  Mom, Skye [a girl in his preschool] says "roof" when she's being a cat.

Caleb:  My mouth is getting sore from talking!

Caleb:  I have an anger and sadness core memory.  Russell and I were fighting over hotwheels in the front room.  But when I get baptized, that won't be a core memory anymore, because when I come out of the water I will only have happiness memories!

Russell:  Mom, sea turtles lay their eggs on the beach so when the baby sea turtles hatch they don't even know which sea turtle is their mom.  Isn't that sad??

We were talking about what it would be like to live in Narnia, where animals can talk, and I told Caleb that I always wondered what Hank would have to say, and Caleb said, "Dolly might have a very beautiful voice!"


Paroneal Tendon Repair

Well, after a year and a half of living with a swollen, painful right ankle, my podiatrist finally figured out what was going on!  My paroneal tendon (the one that goes behind your ankle) was slipping out of place, causing it to tear lengthwise.  There was no injury that caused this to occur; it just started happening one day!  After a few months in a boot, the swelling decreased drastically, which allowed the tendon to slip out of place even easier!  So surgery was the only answer.

When the doctor got in there and took a look at my tendon, he was surprised just how long the tear was.  It was a beast!  He was surprised that I wasn't in more pain than I was.  He said it was like a hose sliced down the side and laid open like a hot dog bun.  So he stitched that up.  He also made the groove in my bone deeper where the tendon sits.  While he was at it, he noticed two separate spots where I had an extra (and unnecessary) muscle attached to my tendon, called a "muscle belly," and they were helping to pull my tendon out of place.  So he detached and cauterized those.  All in all the incision was about 5 inches long!  He said it was a mess in there, but he's happy with how it all turned out.  I hate hearing that things were worse than expected, but it is nice to have a confirmation that surgery really was the best choice.

The day of surgery 

One week post-op.  He was quite alarmed at the degree of swelling I had!

Normal, skinny toes vs. sausage toes.

Two weeks post-op.  Swelling was improved, but a bit of the incision looked like it might have opened up...most likely as a result of me trying to carry the baby while hopping on one foot.  I lost my balance and had to use my bad foot to catch myself.  That was my first time attempting to handle the baby's nap on my own, and I have since realized that I can't do it without help!  Thankfully I've had a lot of people offer to help, and I've humbled myself enough to accept their offers!

I'm now almost three weeks post-op and I had my stitches removed today.  In two weeks I'll go in for an ultrasound to see how well things are healing.  If everything looks good, I'll be able to start putting weight on my foot, walking with a boot!  Wouldn't that be exciting!

The pain was well-controlled for the first week, but after that it seemed like meds weren't making a difference.  There are times when the pain is pretty bad, but for the most part I can ignore it.  I've been told to expect that it will take a full six months before I feel completely healed, but it'll be worth it to not be in pain forevermore!  There's a super good chance that my ankles are symmetrical, so I just have to hope that the same thing doesn't ever happen to my left ankle!

Zachary is 9 months old!

My littlest mister is 9 months old.  That's so close to one year.  So close.

Here is what Zacher is like at 9 months old:

  • He weighs 18 lbs 7 oz, which is in the 25th percentile.  His growth curve is so beautiful that I literally asked for a printout of it so I could look at it over and over.  I joke about framing it and putting it on the wall...I'll let you decide if I'm actually joking.  ;)  For a mother of two sons with Failure to Thrive, you must understand how exciting it is for me to see such a perfect growth curve!
  • He measures 28.25 inches, which is in the 32nd percentile.
  • He has a giant head in the 79th percentile.



  • He started out his 9th month wearing 3-6 month clothes, but shortly after that graduated to 6-9 month clothes, which happen to fit him splendidly.
  • He wears size 3 diapers.
  • He has six teeth (four on top and two on bottom) and doesn't seem to be too close to getting more any time soon.
  • He weaned from nursing when he was 8 months old, which was an easier transition for him than it was for his sentimental mommy.  :(
  • He mimics sounds (grunts, coughs, and vowels).
  • He has started to cruise around furniture.
  • He has started to use his pincer grasp.
  • He sometimes waves "hello."
  • He has figured out how to open cupboard doors, unfortunately!
  • He plays peek-a-boo.
  • He's pretty mild-mannered, other than the fact that he loves getting into mischief!

(Due to my slackerness, this blog post was published a month after Zach turned 9 months, and boy has he changed in the past month!  Nevertheless, I have recorded milestones as they were at 9 months old.)

Here are some pictures of Zachary from the past three months, starting with the most recent.