Monday, April 30, 2012

Cousins

The Mulgrew and Snyder kids enjoyed playing together over the weekend....cousins are always so much fun!
Daniel (4), Matthew (1), Kelly (5.5), Molly (3), Ben (6)
 Molly & Daniel playing their leapsters together early in the morning
Sunday morning movie time with Grandma Peggy!
 Molly & Daniel played really well together.  Here they are playing a song for us!  Molly on guitar & Daniel on drums!
 Daddy pulling Molly......this was how we got a patch on her one morning.  It was HARD to get her to wear her patch over the weekend.
 Swinging in the backyard
 Uncle Brian took Kelly on her FIRST motorcycle ride....they went VERY SLOW!
 Kelly was a little hesitant, but overall she thought her couple laps around the yard were fun!
 Kelly with her godfather!
 Molly took a bunch of laps around the yard with Daniel in the Jeep Power Wheels.  She LOVED it!  I wish I knew what this conversation was about, but it probably went something like this...
"Don't drive too fast!" :)  Molly is hesitant with new things!
The older 4 cousins.  I LOVE this picture!!!

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Matthew's 1st Birthday

Matthew turned ONE on 4/28...and we were lucky to celebrate his birthday with him!
 Matthew's 1st birthday BEAR cake & cupcakes
 He enjoyed opening his presents....and he ALWAYS had his tonque out as he is teething!
 Matthew REALLY enjoyed all the cards!  It was really cute!  Here he is opening our Baby Einstein 1st birthday card from us.
 Molly sat right next to Matthew when he opened the present from us.  We got him an outfit...and then Molly picked out a toy for him....and she was REALLY proud of it!
 Molly showing Matthew how his new whale squirting bath toy is supposed to work!
 The Mulgrew family
 Kelly & Ben being REALLY LOUD with their birthday blowers.
Matthew had a pinata at his 1st birthday party!!!
 My girls we Soooooooo excited for the pinata!
 The 5 kids hitting the pinata......Daniel eventually broke it open!
 Molly though the flaps on the duck were cute!
 Molly did a great job hitting her first pinata!!!
**She was too little a couple years ago and last summer she didn't want to hit the pinata at Kelly's birthday. She has some experience now and will be ready to go this summer for Kelly's 6th birthday!
 The big kids were blindfolded.
 *CANDY*
 Lots of CANDY!
 Matthew reached the "H" cupcake while we were taking a picture of him! 
 Happy birthday to you....
 The kids with the ONE year old!
 Yummy cake!
He loved it!!!
Happy 1st Birthday Matthew James!

Friday, April 27, 2012

Nickelodeon Universe

We started off our trip to Minnesota with a trip to Nickelodeon Universe in the Mall of America.  We had TWO free ride bracelets....so it was a fun time (for the kids...and our pocketbook too!)

Kelly rode on three rides last year when we were in Minnesota, but Molly was still too young.  We didn't know how Molly would react as she is pretty much hit or miss on everything.  She LOVED the rides!!!

It was 4 hours of entertainment for FREE...I LOVE IT!
The girls by the sign when we entered Nickelodeon Universe.  If you look close, you can see Kelly is SO EXCITED...and Molly looks scared!
 First ride - A PINK (for Kelly) dog wearing GLASSES (for Molly).
PERFECT!!!
 Second ride....which ended up being BOTH of my girls FAVORITE!!!
(They called it the "up and down" ride!  I think they both rode it 5 times!  Two at the beginning and since it was their favorite, we rode it 3 more times at the end too.)
 Those giggles are priceless!
 Bumper cars.  
Kelly caught on after the second go-around.
 It took Molly a little longer to figure it out, but she liked the bumper cars too.
 Sisters!
 Diego's bus....I rode it with them once and Papa Michael rode it with the girls too...since Molly wasn't tall enough for this ride on her own.
 Kelly's second favorite ride!!!  
(I did it with her the first time and it made me sick!  Kelly LOVED it....and rode it 4 times!)
 Molly wanted to go on this BIG Dora & Boots Ferris wheel......so Papa Michael took the two girls.  Kelly thought it was fun....Molly was a little scared.
 Next up...the hot air balloon (that Kelly spotted from the carasoul!)
 The Log Ride
(Both girls needed a chaperon for this one so I sat with Kelly and Papa Michael sat with Molly)
**Daddy & Grandma Peggy did not want to do any rides.
 OUR BIG SPLASH!
 Hugs for Spongebob!

 My two VERY DIFFERENT girls BOTH had the same favorite ride!
**I love the smiles and giggles this ride brought out of them!
Dora wasn't at Mall of America today (Molly was SAD!)...but we did find a large Dora statue to get a picture with!

**It was a wonderful trip to Nickelodeon Universe! 

So proud......

Kelly's Kindergarten class had the opportunity to lead the all-school mass on Friday.  Kelly was one of the 10 kids who received a reading part....she was SO EXCITED!  She was given TWO petitions to read.  She practiced multiple times throughout the week.  She was "a little nervous" once she got up to read as she said "when we practiced at church, no one was there to watch us."  All the kindergartners did amazing.....I was SO PROUD!!!


She looks SO little up there!
She was extra happy to be able to include Ryan's name in her petition for the sick and suffering.  She was honored to be able to read that petition!

ENJOY!!!

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Change of plans...

What a day!
We planned on going to mass as a family this morning.  Kelly was SO EXCITED to see so many kids from her school making their First Communion today.  She couldn't wait to see the pretty dresses the girls were wearing (two more years for Miss Kelly!)  We also had a graduation party that we were going to this afternoon.  Well.....none of the above happened!!!

It was 10:20am and church started in 10 minutes.  Molly DID NOT want to put her socks and shoes on and was fighting with Brian.  He eventually put her in a time out at 10:20am.  After that was over, she would only let me help her.  I went in the hallway (where she was in time out) and took her hand and helped her up.  She took TWO STEPS and decided she DID NOT WANT TO WALK! 
**Side note....this is my child that has NEVER wanted to walk!
So....she made her legs and herself dead weight and left me holding her by her left arm.  I let her go, but we now know the damage was done.  She cried right away and said her wrist hurt.  Brian and I looked at it but didn't see anything.  By this point in time we knew we weren't making it to church.  We watched her for about an hour.  We checked to see if she could move her shoulder, elbow, fingers, wrist, etc.  Everything was good except her wrist.  She just left it by her side and didn't use it....AT ALL!  She wouldn't go to the bathroom without help (get on toilet, pull down pants, etc.), get up on her chair in living room, etc.  I knew something was wrong.  I thought maybe she sprained it or something and they would put it in a sling.  I decided to go to Dubuque to my Mom's and see what she thought as a nurse.  Our graduation party was in Dubuque as well, so we went early so we could still make the party.  After Grandma's assessment and talking to my aunt on the phone, I decided to take her to convenient care at the hospital.  When we got there they said they would have to admit us to the ER...as convenient care doesn't cover wrists and X-Rays.  BUMMER!  After going through all the paperwork, etc. the doctor came in and examined her and sent her for X-Rays of her wrist.
**Side note.....these are Molly's THIRD set of X-Rays in her THREE YEARS OF LIFE!!!
-- When she was ONE, they x-rayed her legs
-- When she was TWO, they x-rayed her chest
-- When she is THREE, they x-rayed her wrist 
Molly did NOT enjoy getting x-rays.  They took three pictures.  The first she was ok, the second she cried, and the third one I had to hold her wrist and we counted as she had tears and was in a lot of pain!  Well, the x-rays came back normal and so the doctor examined her further.  He found out that she had Nursemaid's Elbow which is a dislocation of the radial head of the elbow.  (Weird...considering she was only complaining of her wrist and it ended up being her elbow).  Anyway, he POPPED it back into place!  SHE SCREAMED in pain!!!  But....now she is 100% better!  What a day!

So....he sent us home with some information about Nursemaid's elbow.
"It occurs when part of the elbow shifts out of its normal position and dislocates.  This problem is often caused by pulling on a child's outstretched hand or arm.  It usually occurs in children under 5 years old.  This causes a lot of pain.  Do not lift your child by the outstretched hands or arms."

He also said that it is very common to re-occur now that it has dislocated once.  

Needless to say.....Molly didn't wear her patch much today!  8 more days until we find out about her eye!!! It never ends with Miss Molly!!!

 Molly in the ER waiting for the doctor.  She just left her LEFT arm by her side at all times.
ALL BETTER!  Kelly said the doctor had "MAGIC HANDS!"  Grandma Peggy took us to Cherry Berry for a treat after our ER visit!
The girls LOVED it!

I am EXHAUSTED and ready to call it a day!