The title sounds dramatic doesn't it. Well it's two totally separate thought processes but when you put it together it makes for good conversation.
Thursday, August 2nd, we have an appointment with Dr. Shell in Memphis. Chip won’t be able to go so Hill and I will be traveling solo. It’s usually a quick turn-around trip 3 hours there, see Dr. Shell for 2.5 seconds then grab a bite somewhere and head the 3 hours home. I’m hoping Hill will sleep in the car at some point…or a lot of points. I’ve made this trek with him alone before and my most “oh my goodness gracious I want to drive off a cliff moment” in motherhood thus far was one of those alone trips to Memphis. He was a tiny infant and he screamed from Batesville, MS to Kosciusko, MS. I cried and had no idea what to do; I called everyone but the police trying not to flip out. So I sort of get a flashback knot in gut feeling when I think about making the trek alone. Hill is a much better traveler now thanks to technology and the trans of Dora The Explorer episodes. So, happy trails to us.
When we last went to Dr. Shell in March he said he’d be able to tell more at this August visit about potentially needing or not needing another surgery. It’s crazy to think that even 15 months after his surgery his lip is still swollen. I’m assured that this is common because I’ve noticed significant decrease in swelling just from March to now. I hope that Dr. Shell notices it too and will be able to make a sure decision on how Hill’s lip will lay once finally healed. I don’t know the “stage” of healing Hill is at but if we are close to the final healing stage I feel that Hill will need a little bit of a tuck because the right lip droops more so than the left side. Most people don’t notice it and behind the droopy lip hides the fact that he has an extra tooth that goes front to back (not side to side) that is parallel with his cleft. Which we’ve been seeing our awesome dentist Dr. Middleton going on a year now monitoring it. We go back to him on the 9th.
Weekend before last someone said, “Oh no, did he bust his lip?” Which is a compliment in our book; most people wouldn’t even know that he’s had two major reconstructive surgeries due to being born with a cleft lip. We’ve come a long way. I’m pleased with everything and know Dr. Shell will know what’s best from here forward. I hope and pray constantly that my tiny noggin doesn’t have to endure another surgery, but Chip and I trust Dr. Shell and want all that can be done to be done now…when he doesn’t fully remember.
Depending on what time we hit the streets to Memphis we have to make a stop either before or after our appointment. For those of you not familiar with Craigslist you must familiarize yourself. It’s a website much like a trading post for anything - people post items they no longer need or services available and it’s divided out to search by cities and states. It’s how we found our boombostic deal on our lot in Bay St. Louis (which we closed on last Friday – whoop!) It’s where my husband found his job! Odd, I know right? I’m serious though.
Well I am making my first personal face to face transaction because I found a chandelier that I want and it’s in Memphis. I’ve had this paranoia about having to meet someone and buy something from them in person because of all the scary stuff you see on the news about being abducted or stabbed because they lure you in with Craigslist ads…and now since I found out yesterday that Chip is unable to come with us to Memphis, the most crime ridden city in the United States…I started wondering how bad I wanted this chandelier. It’s a $380 chandelier for $50. I’ve been corresponding with the guy and he gave me his home address - which is in a nice neighborhood - and he said he probably won’t be there but his wife or sister in law would. So I’m thinking I can take on some crazy woman should I need to fight for my chandelier and protect my 2 year old and unborn child.
Then I googled the guy because we’ve been corresponding from personal emails. His email is from The University of Tennessee, maybe he’s a professor? So, after googling him I found that he is a resident pediatric neurosurgeon. I felt a little more comfortable about the situation now. He must love babies so he probably won’t chop me and my pregnant self up…or my precious son. However, as a neurosurgeon he may want to perform a Frankenstein experiment on our brains. That thought popped into my head after Young Frankenstein was on tv last night. What a wild creative imagination I have. Bless me.
So, I’ve sent Chip the guys name, email, personal address and the link that shows his picture just in case Hill and I do get abducted. I feel like we will probably just end up with an awesome $380 chandelier for 50 bucks, but what fun would my saying I’m buying something off of Craigslist be if I didn’t let you into my psychedelic 14,000 mph thought process of how it could pan out. Just sayin’.
*Update*
Hill and I were able to leave town around lunch on Thursday. We made awesome time and Hill was such a travel trooper. He watched his tv until about Batesville and then napped until I turned into the Craigslist Killers neighborhood to pick up my chandelier. I’m sure these really super nice people dislike that I refer to them as the Craigslist Killers on my blog. They were not killers but probably people that would be my BFF if I lived in Cordova. I’m sure we looked really homely going up to their door (which my mom had me have her on my phone while I nonchalantly held it in my hand the whole time.) Hill demanded to wear his Superman pj shirt on top of his red polo yesterday.
Side note: the pj’s are sized 18 month and I’d passed them down to a friend. My friend gave them back as her kid has now grown out of them…well Hill spotted them in the bag and feels the need to wear the shirt 24-7. I’ve learned to pick my battles. Superman pj tops are not one I’m taking on. Yet, no socks on with the tennis shoes is a battle I’ll take on. Holy moly mother of sweet 8 pound baby Jesus, Hill inherited my stank feet. I put his shoes in the closet one night then the next morning when I went to pick out his clothes I opened the door and the odor nearly knocked me off my feet. I literally thought something had died. So now, we MUST wear socks with shoes. It’s become part of our house rules.
1) No hitting
2) No lying
3) No eating Ketchup when Chip’s around and
4) You must wear socks with shoes.
I’ve digressed. We looked homely at the Craigslist Killers house, maybe that’s why they spared our lives…they felt sorry for us. Hill had on his seersucker red and white shorts, no shoes (but socks), a red collared polo shirt with a crop top Superman pj shirt over that. I will say that he had the collar of his polo on the outside of the Superman pj top so he was at least “trying” to be stylish in a Jersey Shore kind of way. The girl was nice and carried the chandelier to my car. I handed her cash money and told her to please count it. She said, no I trust you. Guess I wasn’t as homely as I pictured myself? She was a nice girl. Her looks sort of reminded me of my college roommate Sarah.
Anyway, I’m alive and didn’t have my brain transplanted into a corpse or anything obscene. The transaction took like 2.5 seconds and was very pleasant. As a matter of fact when I got home later that night I took a picture of the chandelier and emailed it to them saying “she loves her new home.” I’m a dork like that. But I’m also a dork in wondering where all my old cars are today. Are they being treated right and running still and as clean as I kept them or rotting in a junk yard somewhere sad. I sometimes feel like inanimate objects have feelings. Which is why Hill has 4,000 stuffed animals because I can’t bring myself to rid of them. They may be sad somewhere else. Whoa, ok I’ve fallen off my rocker by publicly admitting that. I’ll work on ridding of the stuffed animals…I promise.
Anyway, Chip loved the chandelier and was very proud of my find. He immediately hung it up and went to the store and bought light bulbs for it. We were both very surprised with me buying something sight unseen and not knowing how it would or if it wouldn’t work. I’m very much NOT like that. I need to see it touch it feel it ponder and over analyze how it’s going to look and then talk myself out of it. That’s how I work. So yay for Craigslist find! $380 chandelier for $50 and it looks like it was MADE for our dining room.
By the time the chandelier transaction took place it was only like 3:00 and so I called Penny at Dr. Shell’s office and she said come on early! So we did. The only tantrum Hill had all day long was when we got to Dr. Shell’s building. I had to tt so so so bad and we walked into the bathroom and Hill wanted to go first. I told him that there was absolutely no way that mommy could let him go first, I’m so sorry – it was an emergency. He proceeded to throw himself on the floor of the bathroom…hands, face, tummy, legs just rubbing all over the bathroom floor. Yuk. I didn’t care I had to go first. The Mean Stupid Selfish Mommy that I am. After literally like 7 minutes of my convincing him he could tt in any of the stalls while real alligator tears ran down his bathroom floor infested face – he went in another stall. He got over himself and we were ready to go see Dr. Shell. Whew.
Hill has talked and talked and talked about Dr. Shell for like 2-3 days. He even was telling Penny, the receptionist, how Dr. Shell was going to be “sssoooo happy.” Well Cassie (his assistant) called us back and when Dr. Shell came in Hill wouldn’t even look at him. It was so funny. I told him how Hill had been talking about him for days now and I’m so surprised at his behavior. I told Dr. Shell that yesterday Hill said, “I go see Dr. Shell….he’s dangerous!” Dr. Shell said, “Hill! You’re ruining my Kosicusko business!”
Hill’s new found word is dangerous. You can’t do something like change the tv channel – because it’s dangerous. He hasn’t quite learned what it means exactly and it’s hilarious to see how he uses it.
The check up went well. My worry of another surgery will have to wait because he said that even though the scar is softening and the swelling is going down, the lip is still red and swollen and we can’t make a touch up decision until all the redness is gone. What does this translate to? Having a soft scar is what you want. If your scar was hard and bulky then it would cause for a tight scar and not look so natural. Even though it’s been 15 months since his surgery Dr. Shell said he thinks a lot more of the swelling will subside. With kids you never know how long it will take their wounds to heal. What we are looking for is all the redness to go away. Once the scar is no longer red / pink then we know where we stand on the healing and can better distinguish what, if any, touch ups are to be done. This healing could even take up to another year. So we wait…on vanishing redness / pink.
We go back in December and Penny said we have to bring Reid with us. So weird to think about the fact that she will be here so soon! How exciting and crazy. Hill was about 25 days old when we met the crew at Shell Cosmetics. They have literally watched him grow up. So it’s only appropriate Reid be a part of that family too.
Here are a few pictures since I made you read so much.
Before & After of chandelier. Hopefully you can tell the more ornate chandelier is the new one and the Lowe's special is the old one. (pardon all the junk on my buffet - I'm cleaning out my mudroom entry way for new construction. More to come on that)
Then you never know what you will learn about at Dr. Shell's office. Yesterday Hill showed me that the picture on the brochure for a tummy tuck makes for a happy carefree mama and super laid back kids. So, Mama needs a tummy tuck!
Then I'll give you a glimpse into the wonderful world of Superman fashion. Be jealous.
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