One Crazy Week, The Sequel

"Where is began, I can't begin to knowin'..." somehow the lyrics of Sweet Caroline start to run through my head as I think back over the sheer madness of this past week. To start, on Saturday we all went to see Uncle Mike and Aunt Kim get married at St. Basil's. The babies were actually really well behaved, especially since they had to wear their helmets through the ceremony and were still getting used to them. Thanks again Aunt Becca for holding Katie! We then went over to my parents for a little while to visit with family before the reception began. The babies went home to be fed and got to hang out with their Aunt Kathy, Mrs. Trakul, and Mrs. Dressig for the night. Thanks again to you guys as well! It was nice for us to be able to see everyone from out of town and actually have a night out baby-free. On Sunday both Pat and I raked about a billion leaves that we had been trying to find time to do for the last week or so and then I had to go shopping for formula and dog food so at least some of us around here could eat. Monday I had quintet practice in the evening again so we can hopefully be ready to perform in another week or so. Tuesday both Katie and Seamus had physical therapy so all of us had to go. Seamus needed to get his final evaluation done now that he has his helmet. He is officially done with therapy now for good! The only reason he would need to go back would be if he developed some other problems due to his helmet, but his torticolis is gone! Katie is still going twice a week. She's made great progress but is only about 80-85% of the way there with her neck muscles. Since she's been struggling with her neck some of her developmental milestones have been a little lagging so we've been working on things like rolling over the last couple of sessions. She can do it tummy to back but only in one direction, and has never done it back to tummy on her own. The other 2 are rolling all over the place so we want her to try and join the fun! We're hoping the helmet might help with that so she won't get stuck on the flat part of her head as easily. On Wednesday night I had conferences and the babies needed to have baths so Aunt Kathy came over to help Pat. This was a really eye opening experience for me because it made me realize how incredibly helpless having kids can make you feel sometimes. I didn't like the fact (and still don't) that I had to have someone else come over and help my kids take a bath. That seems like something that just should never have to happen, but there was no choice. Because of their helmets, they have to have baths more frequently and I had conferences on Thursday afternoon and evening as well. On top of that I had to ask the one person I feel like I've had to let down the most with this whole baby situation. I'm supposed to be Kathy's Matron of Honor when she gets married in less than a month and I feel like the only thing I've done is NOT do anything at all. I've missed fittings for her dress- when she went to mine, missed helping with most of her bridal shower- when she did a ton for both my wedding and baby shower, didn't do anywhere near as much for her bachelorette party as she did planning mine, and the list just goes on and on. Let me just say that I pretty much feel like the worst friend ever and yet she will still drop everything for me when I call. I don't know what I did to deserve her but I thank God that I have people like her in my life! Thursday was an absolute day from Hell! I'm sure Pat and my dad would definitely agree. As I mentioned before, I had conferences in the afternoon and evening so between the hours of 2:30 and 5 I had to pick Katie up and take her to therapy, then take her to her helmet fitting where my dad and Pat were waiting with the other 2, schedule their next fitting appointment, and somehow make it back to work by 5. I walked through the door at 4:58 so miracles do happen! The babies missed their nap that day so my dad offered to stay and help Pat feed the cranky mess that they had become. Then of course he offered to stay and help with baths which led to their evening feeding. Needless to say, it was around 8pm by the time he finally got out of here. Keep in mind he'd been at our house since about 6:45 yesterday morning. Again, I don't know why we deserve people like this in our lives but we really appreciate it! Today both Pat and I had to take another half day to take the babies to see the cranio-facial specialist at Childrens. Grandpa got to have the afternoon off for once instead of having to work overtime instead! We finally got the results of Seamus's CT scan and everything looked good. He'll have to have another set of x-rays in about 6 weeks but so far no fused sutures which definitely is a good thing! Both of the girls x-rays also came back negative so we had good news all the way around today. They did have to go have their helmets readjusted again though so we got to make the trip through the lovely tunnel system down at the medical center, as we wandered over to Detroit Receiving. That's where the office is for the helmet adjustments. Let me just say, it's such a lovely place. I cannot for the life of me understand how a hospital can NOT have a changing area in any of their restrooms. Seamus got to have his diaper changed on a table in one of the surgical waiting areas because that was about the only place besides the disgusting floor that I could find. Just a word of warning... unless you have some emergency gun shot wound, Detroit Receiving is not a place you want to be!
The babies did get to have squash for the first time today and we're all looking forward to a relatively quiet weekend. Here's some pictures of our super-heroes! Pat and I keep calling them that in their helmets. The first picture is of us the day of Mike's wedding. The others in order are Katie aka Super Bug, Helena aka Super Bean, and Seamus aka Super Tater!