Senior pictures teaser

The teen and my favorite photographer got together yesterday for senior pictures. They started at the UW and then moved down to Pike Place Market; I'm happy to get the Seattle vibe in these pics since the teen plans to move far away next year. I'm so excited to see the results (over 500 shots taken!!), but wanted to share the teaser pic that Craig texted me yesterday.

Tell me, again, when did he get to be an adult? *sniff*

Cleanliness

"Yes mom, I cleaned up the kitchen when I was done this morning"

"Yes, I made my bed. And I picked up my room. And those boxes you asked me to take out to the recycling bin two days ago? Yes, I did that too."

And he's the easy one lately.

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Update: As I was posting this, I looked over at the toddler. She was holding the honey from the above picture. Like a cup. Drinking it. Because my children are normal.

Pain in the Neck

First, I want to thank everyone who tweeted, facebooked and texted me support and positive thoughts yesterday. It really meant a lot to know that other people out there are thinking about us and wishing us well. I know I was pretty vague about what is going on with the tween so I thought I'd fill y'all in.

He was in DC on vacation with his grandparents over Thanksgiving (more on that later) when he first noticed the pain. There was no catalyst to it, no big neck jolts or anything. He woke up, ate breakfast and then they started going about their day as tourists. He said he first remembers it after breakfast, it definitely wasn't there when he woke up that morning. He didn't say anything about it at first because he just thought it would go away. He mentioned it to me in passing on the phone, but didn't make a big deal out of it so we let it go.

When he got home (last Wednesday) he started complaining about it a little more frequently. He walked around in the morning and in the evening with his hand around the back of his neck, flinching every once in a while, but otherwise in good spirits. But by Thursday evening we decided we needed to have him looked at, to figure out what was going on and how we can make it go away.

Friday we went to his pediatrician. He did a bunch of neurological tests (all normal), narrowed down the fact that it was skeletal rather than muscular (which is even more puzzling), prescribed a week of rest, ibuprofen and ice, then sent us to get some xrays.

The ibuprofen and ice did nothing for him. The xrays all showed everything as normal. The whole "rest" thing didn't go over well.

Saturday afternoon the pain started spreading. Where it was first located on just one particular vertebra, it had now moved up and down  his spine by one or two vertebrae each way. This concerned me.

Monday morning he woke up in tears. So I called the pediatrician and in we went. Same neuro tests (all normal), same stumped doctor. He gave us an urgent referral to an orthopedist at Children's and they managed to get us in that afternoon.

After chatting with the nurse, resident intern, and the orthopedist, it was decided that the best course of action was to order a bone scan for him. We have an appointment this Friday that will take us most of the day, followed by an appointment with the orthopedist to see how to proceed.

If we don't get answers from the bone scan, the next step will probably be an MRI and/or a CT. The orthopedist also suggested scheduling some physical therapy for him to help relieve the pain. And though I want his pain to be relieved, I also want to know what the heck is causing the pain.

And  here we are. Waiting. He's still hurting, but its a tolerable pain and he makes it through the day just fine. Mornings and nights are the harder part.

Please keep those positive messages coming in. We're trying to keep upbeat, trying to take the whole "its probably nothing serious" approach. But distractions and hugs, for all of us, are always accepted.

I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry.

I heard a noise I couldn't quite pinpoint coming from down the hall. I was trying to get some work done. The toddler was busily doing something.

Finally it started to bug me, that noise. So I got up to check it out.

"Look mommy, I'm building a mountain."

That would be the entire contents of her dresser. On her floor. The noise I heard were the drawers closing.

I let out a little noise that was not quite a laugh, but not quite a choked back sob. I just took a picture of the mess and left the room.

She is quite pleased with herself.

I, however, might need a drink.

Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the States. It's going to be a strange one for me. My family of five is spread out this year and I'm having a bit of a hard time.

The tween left on Monday with his grandparents, to surprise his aunts on the east coast. It was a very last minute decision. He is having a blast and they are spoiling him rotten. I am excited for him; he is having wonderful adventures and the adults are enjoying playing tourist again, seeing their city through young, fresh eyes. But I miss him. The house is very quiet without his goofiness, his movement, his constant dialog of football plays as he uses the furniture as tackling dummies.

The teen is leaving this afternoon. He is going to Hawaii with his dad's family. I think he will have fun once he gets there (I hope), but he is a big ball of stress right now. He is missing five days of school next week and I think it might give him an ulcer (only partly kidding). For various reasons, he can't take all of his homework with him, which put a ton of stress on him this last week to try and get as much of it done as possible, while still working late at school for his journalism class (the paper goes to press soon, they've been at school until at least 8:00 all week). Knowing what is looming over his head when he gets back ... well, he's had a couple breakdowns. I hurt for him, knowing how much this is stressing him out. I wish I could help, but instead we just get the brunt of the freak outs. I am crossing fingers that he will find a way to relax and enjoy the trip, and not melt down again when he gets back to reality.

Man, this senior year is hard.

Anyway, it will just be the hubs, the toddler and I in the house for a solid week, without our boys. I am already wandering around lost in this quiet.

We are spending the evening tomorrow with my husbands family, about 40 of them. It will be loud, the alcohol will be flowing, the football will be on ... but it'll be different. Weird, not having MY little family together.

But I am thankful they are safe and happy and well taken care of. I hope the teenager finds some peace and relaxation in the sun. I hope the tween is distracted enough not to be sad. And I hope the vodka is cold where I am at so I can warm myself up with some liquid happiness.

I will leave you with a little laugh I got today from a friend on facebook. The 32 Rules of Thanksgiving Touch Football. My favorite is number 6: "A Nerf ball is okay but you should own a leather football. A leather football is one of the things every home must have, like a dishwasher and a bourbon distillery in the garage."

Happy Thanksgiving.

Saying goodbye to my soccer team

In a few hours we will head out to the very last soccer game that I will coach with my 18 year olds.

That's me. Doing my coaching thing.

I'm having a hard time with this. I've watched these kids grow up. I've coached them for five years, but even before that I hung around at practices, scrimmaged with them when they needed extra players, cheered them on from the sidelines.

Most of these kids have been part of my life for a very long time. And it's almost over.

This has been my first real moment of "this is it" with the teenager. We've shared soccer since he was on his first team at age five. Thirteen years of memories, and now it's about to be done.

I'm going to be a basket case.

But these are teenage boys and they don't want to see that. I have to figure out a way to hold it together while these goofballs that I love come together on the field for the final time.

I have to figure out a way to laugh and cheer and smile and suck it up. I have to  say goodbye to 17 silly, dopey, funny, amazing kids that have, for the most part, found a place in my "mom" heart.

Yep. I'm a basket case. No way around it. Goodbye's just suck, I have no profound words to get me through it.

*sob*

Update 10:30pm: It's done. It's over.

We had a great game (we won, 3-1), it was a lot of fun. It was a little physical (we drew our second yellow card of the season. Awesome.), the teenager made some AMAZING saves in goal. Some of the guys played in their pajamas, because we made a deal last season.

I made them cookies. They brought me flowers. We had a group hug.

And now we are done.

*sniff*

Life

The varying degrees of my day:

"Mommy," says the toddler, holding a coin, "do you want heads or Veggie Tales?" It took me a minute to understand she was trying to flip the coin and wanted me to call a side. Cute.

It's 35 degrees today. Everyone at school was dressed with hats and gloves and down coats. Not my tween. He was wearing basketball shorts and a t-shirt with an under armour underneath. I had to argue with him to get the under armour on. His sweatshirt was "in his backpack."

The teenager has officially applied early action to two schools. Applications have been sent to Georgetown and Northeastern. He is VERY excited.