Time for an update?

It's been a little over two years since our last update. To tell the truth, Facebook and Twitter have served as a very good means of documentation and communication for our little bit of Urban living. In searching for pics for the profiles to your left, all I had to do was check my phone for recent Facebook posts. But as one of my dear friends reminds me quite often, not everyone enjoys the world of FB and Twitter; therefore, I am making it a goal of mine to hop back online and update this blog. There is so much to share, so instead of going backwards, I will start from now and move onward!

Grace and Lori

This weekend, Gracie was the flower girl in my cousin Lori's wedding in Kansas City at Loose Mansion. We had an amazing time celebrating with family and welcoming Cody's family to our own. The rehearsal dinner was held at Boulevard Brewing Company downtown...need I say more? Brandon not only enjoyed the tour, he could have led the tour. On a more sentimental note, Lori's gift to Grace during the rehearsal was the same pearl necklace that my sister Carrie had given to Lori when she was the flower girl in her wedding. Grace wore it yesterday for the wedding and will hopefully pass it along to her flower girl some day.

The ceremony was beautiful. Afterwards, we had dinner and danced and danced and danced! Ben and Grace enjoyed spending time with their cousins Brody and Corey from Arizona. Brandon and I sat with Rob and Carrie and got to catch up (while secretly checking the score to the Sporting KC game)! My parents had a chance to see several other family members from out of town as well. 



Flower girl



Grace, Ben, Corey, Brody





Sisters









Dad and Ben

Now that the wedding is over, we will have quite the busy week. Brandon is getting ready for his Hundred Hole Hike. This will take place on Monday, June 25th. If you haven't heard about this yet, please check it out at www.hundredholehike.com. It's for a great cause, as he is golfing for tiny-K, and organization that provides early intervention services to children ages birth to 3 who have special needs. Our dear Molly receives their services - and that in itself, is for a whole other blog post. :) We will save that for another day. Thank you to those of you who have pledged either with your time or your money. Everything counts!

Summer has begun!

Summer has begun, but before it gets any further, I thought I'd update you on what we've all been up to in May! It's been a busy month!

BEN: Ben turned NINE this month! Where has the time gone? Brandon and I temporarily lost our minds and allowed him to have four friends over to spend the night. Wow. Nine-year-old boys have a lot of energy. They played the Wii and Nintendo, chased each other around the yard, and ate nearly everything we had on hand. Other than that, we survived. Since the theme of the party was "video games", Megan made an awesome cake that said "Happy Birthday to Mii" and featured Ben's very own mii.

GRACE: Grace had her end-of-year Dazzler dance recital last night. She danced the following routines: Stormy Weather, Wizard of Oz, Hip-Hop Hokey Pokey, and the finale, Who Am I.
After the show, she exclaimed "I love being on stage! Can we do it again?" Needless to say, her dream of being on American Idol might actually be attainable! Go Grace!

MOLLY: Molly has been very busy chattering away. Although she appears to have her own language, she has some great "real" words as well. She says "hi, bye, hot, pup, kitty, drink, more, mama, dada, and most importantly, hawk (Jayhawk)." I'm sure there are others, but these are the ones she uses consistently! She's walking all over the place in the new shoes that Aunt Stacey and Uncle Clinton bought her.

BRANDON: Brandon turned 33 this month! We celebrated with friends last Monday. We played baseball, barbecued, and of course, played a little Guitar Hero. It was a blast. Happy Birthday Brandon.

ME: I'm done with school! Enough said!

Where did April go?

So much happened in April. Here are the top ten, even if they weren't the "best" ten!

10. Molly visited the ER after falling on the driveway and hitting the back of her head. Thankfully, all is well.
9. Brandon is out of softball for at least two weeks after tearing his meniscus...that little thing that keeps the bones from touching in your knee joint.
8. Ben, too, has injured his knee and has been fighting through it on the soccer field.
7. Bert Nash no longer takes my insurance so I am left without a therapist until I find another, or a secondary insurance!
6. Ben mowed the lawn for the first time - all of it for only ten bucks commission.
5. Gracie is getting ready for her dance performance on May 28th. She's a munchkin in the land of Oz.
4. Stacey and Clinton were married on April 16th. I sang at the wedding and Brandon spoke of resounding gongs. Ben was an usher and Grace was the flower girl. Molly was the honorary flower girl.
3. Grace won first prize in the science fair for her Nail Polish Palooza project. Always go with Sally Hansen if you have a choice. It lasts the longest.
2. Ben's team did well in the Challenger's Tournament and Ben even scored a goal with his left foot!
1. Molly turned one and began walking.

That's April! Welcome May! 16 days of school left!

Molly turns ONE!

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!

Last weekend, Molly celebrated her first birthday. It's hard to believe it's already been a year. We had several friends and family members over for a party and an Easter egg hunt in our backyard. There were over 300 eggs, but it only took minutes for them to be found! Meanwhile, Molly dabbled in her cake. Megan made her her own special ladybug cake and she was actually quite dainty with it! The other kids and adults? Well, we managed to eat nearly the entire cake - YUM YUM. Here are a few pictures from the party. Thank you to everyone who celebrated her special day with us!

Tea parties and soccer games

Madame Hatter's Tea Room

Grace, Laura, and Emma...three peas in a pod....in the Hatter's Boutique.

Ben getting in the game to "win the ball".


This weekend, Gracie and I had the opportunity to go to Madame Hatter's Tea Room in Bonner Springs, KS. As some of you know, it used to be in Eudora...so it was a bit more of a drive but so worth the extra time! We went with two of Grace's friends and their mothers. The girls enjoyed pouring their own "tea" and trying on all of the hats, furs, and other accessories in the boutique area.

Ben is still playing with the Kansas Soccer Academy HEAT team, and so far they've won 2/2 games and had one "snowed" out. Ben is doing well and transforming into a pretty good player. He has learned so much in so little time.

Molly turns one on Friday. Seriously. ONE. More to come on that this weekend!

Update from the Urbans

Well, Spring Break is coming to an end, and with that, I am headed back to work on Monday. Just wanted to put a shout out there and let you all know how appreciative we've been of your thoughts, prayers, cards, and support since I've been sick. Thank you for the dinners you have brought over and all of the other goodies to make me feel better. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends. Things are all back on the right track. I am still really fatigued, especially by mid-afternoon, but the rash is disappearing, the appetite is back (although strange - I no longer like cadbury eggs or sweet tea! AHHHH!!), and the neurological side effects are gone. I am walking and driving again on my own! :)

Speaking of walking, Molly has been taking more and more steps at a time, sometimes so much as 8 steps. We have a few videos but nothing will download to the blog effective enough for you to experience the wonder of it all! We will be sure to post as soon as we capture that on video. :)

Thanks again to our wonderful family and friends. We love you!

I'm starting with super cute pictures of our children, because I'll be ending on some not so cute pictures of me. So here is Molly in her new hat (spit that binky out!). I can't believe she'll be ONE in a few weeks. She's almost walking but chooses to sit down and stand up like she's dancing but won't take a step.

There is a picture of Ben in his suit for Stacey and Clinton's wedding next month. He is working on a science project with the help of Brandon. They are seeing what effects coca-cola has on various things. He has also mailed his "Flat Stanley" to Carrie and Rob in Phoenix so we'll see what they come up with. (oh, the sites to see in AZ! I wish I was there)

Dazzlers, Dazzlers, Dazzlers! Whooo! That's Gracie's chant at her dance competition last month. Believe it or not, they won several trophies! She is now working on being a Munchkin in an OZ dance routine. She is also working on her science project that involves trying out different nail polishes and seeing how long they last before they chip - her idea, no kidding.

And now...what you've all been waiting for, what you're all wondering I'm sure....WHAT IS STEVENS-JOHNSON SYNDROME and why does Julie have it when the chances are 1 in 1000?

For those who are faint of heart, do not read on, because I have included pictures to show you my case is NOT as bad as the ones you see on websites. So here is my brief synopsis so you do not go to those websites.

(my leg)

S-J Syndrome is a serious and sometimes fatal medical condition commonly caused by an allergic reaction to drugs, in my case, the increase in Lamictal, which most of you know is my mood stabilizer. (I was just feeling better too when it was yanked away from me cold turkey!) The disease process for Stevens-Johnson Syndrome typically begins with a nonspecific upper respiratory tract infection. (had that!) Early symptoms occur in the first 1- to 14-day period during which fever, sore throat, chills, headaches and malaise may be present. (had that too!)Vomiting is sometimes noted in the early symptoms. Skin and mucous membrane lesions can develop abruptly with clusters of outbreaks lasting from 2 to 4 weeks.

(my arm)


In my case, I have several lesions, big and small, on my legs, back, chest, arms, and feet. They feel very much like burns and I HATE taking showers! I am unable to eat because it has entered my GI tract and I throw up every time I eat. I slur my speech because my tongue is enlarged. I've been to several doctors to confirm what I have, and spent nearly a whole day in the ER getting extra fluids through an IV and an MRI because my gait was off and I was having trouble seeing. (all due to SJS) So, here are the pictures if some of you are interested. If not, turn off your computer! The leg is the worst -that's what doctor's are watching the most. The others we're hoping will fade!

(my stomach)

(my leg lesion) OUCH! (my stomach)

It's been ten months!

It is hard to believe that it has already been 10 months since Molly came into our lives. Some days it doesn't seem like that long, and in some ways it seems like it's been forever! Either way you look at it, we are truly blessed to have this wonderful family of five.

A White Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2009!

It has been a long time since we've had a white Christmas in Lawrence! This one makes up for them all. The terms "Winter weather advisory" and "blizzard conditions" do not even come close to what we encountered last night! By the time church let out around seven p.m., the snow was blowing so hard that we couldn't walk to our cars with our eyes open! My parents and my sister and her family came over from Overland Park last night just as it had begun to sleet. We were able to make it to church safely, and after a quick dinner, and a record-speed present opening, they headed home in the middle of the blizzard. Thankfully, everyone made it home safely.

We celebrated Urban Christmas on Wednesday night. It had rained all day...there was even thunder and lightning throughout the day. It's been a tradition that Santa Claus visits Mama and Papa's house and drops off presents in the trees and all around the yard. This weather didn't stop Santa! Instead, he was able to sneak into the house while we were eating dinner and leave a scavenger hunt for the children. They followed clues around the house, finding presents along the way, and eventually ended up in a twinkle-lit garage with a pinata! Needless to say, it was quite an experience that the children will not soon forget.

Some of the highlights included:

-Since we were snowed in today, we spent the day playing Mario Kart on the wii; digging for dinosaur bones; making Paperoni animals; putting together Molly's Fisher Price toys; building Lego Star Wars ships; playing Pokemon Diamond, Petz Nursery, and Tinkerbell on the DS; playing Guess Who and Connect Four by Four; eating leftovers, learning about our new Canon PowerShot camera; petting the FurReal Kitty and getting our own real kitty out of the Christmas tree; watching A Christmas Story marathon, and spending quality time together as a family!

-The stockings were full, but what was most memorable? Ben got a comb and some hair gel in his stocking this year. Grace got a loofah. Oh how times have changed.

-Molly got a boppy penguin (a penguin that bobbles back and forth). It is currently hidden in her closet, where it will remain until she can overcome her intense fear of this toy! The poor child is terrified.

- Brandon and I hid the presents in the trunk of the car this year. (Some of you may remember that we hid them in Molly-to-be's room last year and we pulled the door handle off!) Well, this year, it was not until 10:00 last night that we discovered that the trunk was frozen shut. After unfreezing the doors enough to pull the car into the garage, we poured pitcher after pitcher of steaming water onto the trunk. Eventually it opened, and we hurried to wrap presents until nearly midnight.

We are so thankful for all of the blessings in our lives. Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

Gracie's debut

For those of you who don't know just yet....Gracie and I will be singing a duet in church on Sunday, December 27th. You are all invited! But if you cannot come or have your own church service to attend, here is a sneak peak - an impromptu late night kitchen performance - soon to be all over youtube I'm sure! I joked with Brandon that he needs to send it to JJ Heller, the writer/singer of "Your Hands". So, here goes...keep in mind that when we sing it in church, we will have a guitar player and a bass player accompanying us! Oh, and if you haven't already seen the blog post before this one, check it out...because Molly has quite a set of pipes as well!

Molly Finds Her Voice

We had an early morning today... Molly had to be at the hospital at 6:45 to get her tubes put in her ears. This followed a night where she was not allowed to eat after 1:00 a.m. Those of you who know Molly know that this does not necessarily jive with her agenda : ) So it was early and we were all a bit tired! Thank goodness grandma and grandpa had Ben and Grace over for a slumber party.
Everything went perfect. Molly was a model patient.
Here is a short video of Molly a few hours after her surgery... she has indeed found her voice!

A fun and festive weekend!

Friday night we had our church "young couples white elephant party" at Signs of Life Christian Bookstore in downtown Lawrence. I brought a white elephant...literally...an elephant that I painted white, stuck a bow on his head, and put him in a shiny silver bag...one that no one could resist. Brandon worked on his last minute gift: a scrapbook with pictures of our friends that were enhanced by faceinhole.com. I was pictured with Edward and Jacob from Twilight. Barry was a Teletubbie. Pictures ranged from Hannah Montana to the Jackson Five. Both of our gifts were stolen several times. What did we end up with? A statue of Beethoven and a faded t-shirt and some broken watches. It could have been worse. There was a rule that if you opened something that could be worn, you must put it on. Fortunately for you Barry, we did not get a great picture of you in your lingerie, so your pic will not make this blog post. Here is a picture of our friends Chris and Mark...you may recognize them as one of your favorite Christmas movie characters.

Saturday night we had our game night group over for an ornament exchange. We had great food that centered around the Christmas theme. We had oreo eggnogg, Santa's crack dip, Blitzen balls, Christmas kabobs, and much much more. We played a Christmas movie trivia game. We also got our kids together for a picture and vowed to do it each year as a tradition. I joked with Keri and Jeremy that next year they might have one to add to the mix. We'll see!

Today we had our Christmas Cantata at church. It was titled "Speak to Me". I've been a nervous wreck for weeks since I had a solo called "The Lion and the Lamb". My voice hasn't really been all that great since I had that cold last month, so I've been drinking lemon/honey tea to prepare! All was well, because according to Brandon, I "rocked it out"! I was so excited to share it with so many people! Sandra and Mike were there, as well as Uncle Aaron, and even our friend Melanie came to visit LHCC today. We all celebrated with lunch at our house afterwards.

The weekend ended with one minor bump in the road. We took Molly to First Med again tonight with what was diagnosed as her SIXTH ear infection. I will call the doctor tomorrow to make sure that we are still on for tubes on Wednesday now that she is on an antibiotic.

Brandon update

So it happened. Brandon finally went to the doctor. In fact, it had been so long that they had our previous address listed. I went along with him so I could tell them just how worried I am about these headaches. He has now had four within five days, all in the left temporal lobe and all extremely painful. The doctor threw out some possible scenarios, such as temporal arteritis (which usually occurs in men over age 50!) and some other things. Although my gut feeling is that he needs an MRI, I have to rely on the doctors...they know best. So Brandon had some bloodwork done on Tuesday. It came back yesterday with elevated levels of CRP. This could mean several things....an infection of some sort, too much protein in the liver, google it and you'll get a million "could-be"s. It could even be that he had too much Ibuprofin before the blood draw. So, we wait. Brandon is ibuprofin-free for a week and then he gets more bloodwork. Hopefully we will have some answers then. For now, he can have Imitrex for the pain. If we find that it was Ibuprofin, then we are back at square one. What is causing them and how can we fix them! We will keep you posted..on Brandon and on Molly! This weekend we have a few Christmas parties, the Christmas Cantata at church, and some other fun things, so watch for pics!

Listen up...

As most of you know, Molly has had five ear infections in the last few months and is not babbling. No, that's not the speech pathologist in me talking...it's the concerned mother. Molly does enjoy hearing her own voice. She says 'ahhhhh" and "ooohh" at the top of her lungs, but she just hasn't produced many consonants (which should begin to emerge at 3 to 6 months!). I knew Molly was behind, but we wanted to see if antibiotics would work with her ear infections, and we figured that she was busy working on her gross motor skills. (She is pulling herself up and scooting around furniture!)

Today we went to the ENT (Ear/Nose/Throat doc). Molly went through several hearing tests. Her favorite was in the sound booth, where she sat on my lap while the audiologist presented several pure tone sounds in one ear while lights and crazy stuffed animals were presented on the other side of the booth. Ideally, Molly was supposed to hear the sounds and turn her head. She did not. Molly continued to watch for the lights and the animals. Even when the lights and animals stopped, and the spoken words were presented, Molly did not turn her head. By now, I was more concerned. When the tympanograms came out flat, I knew she wasn't hearing us completely. The doc said both ears were full of fluid. She cannot hear spoken words in either ear. In the right ear, she hears only muffled voices, like she's under water and noises that are low frequency sounds. The left ear was more difficult to interpret. It appeared that she wasn't hearing anything at all, which seemed to baffle the ENT. Both eustachian tubes were "very small" and not allowing fluid to drain, even with the strongest antibiotics. The summary and recommendations?

Molly has a significant hearing loss. Tubes should restore all of her hearing in the right ear, and we'll just have to wait and see on the left ear. She's young. The tests could be wrong. We should talk to her in her right ear and "continue to use sign language" with her.

Tubes will be placed next Wednesday. We're all hoping and praying that Molly will hear our voices loud and clear right after the surgery!

Another night of mishaps and miracles....

YUCK.

A while ago, we blogged about a crazy night during which Brandon and I spilled red wine on the carpet, Molly was up all night, and a mouse was trapped out in our kitchen. Well, last night, combined with today...I think this beats it all.

Last night, all was well when we turned out the lights. At 1:30 a.m. Brandon woke up with a headache that he deemed "the worst pain of his life." Yes, the worst pain, not just headache of his life. He said this was much worse than breaking his hand a few years ago, or having a tombstone dropped on his head. (that's a story for another day) I, of course, ran for some Imitrex, assuming he was having his first migraine. (I'm such a pro) After that, paired with Ibuprofin, didn't work, I began to think the worst. As I watched Brandon endure the pain, even in tears at times, I began to think of all the things that could be wrong. I made the mistake of googling his symptoms only to find "aneurysm" "aneurysm" "aneurysm" everywhere! An hour went by, and his pain worsened. We debated about going to the emergency room. I thought about calling my friend Keri who lives near us, or my mother-in-law, who would have to drive across town. As I was debating this, Brandon fell asleep. By now, it was 3:00. I stayed awake until 5:30, which seemed like forever...watching him closely to make sure he was breathing. By six, I was exhausted. And then I realized something. In all this time that Brandon and I were awake, Molly had been sleeping. Molly finaly slept through the night! And Brandon and I were too awake to notice.

In the morning, Brandon's headache was gone. Our Sunday morning routine began as usual..when Ben came up the stairs complaining of a stomach ache. For the faint of heart, this is a warning. Turn back now. Sign out. For those of you that can handle it, read on.

In my 8 years as a mother, I have never had to clean up what I cleaned up this morning. Poor Ben. He made it to the bathroom, only to throw up right in front of the toilet. I asked him why he couldn't lean just a little bit more forward and he said "I don't want to touch the toilet to open it." But it was perfectly okay to regurgitate last night's burger from Spangles, pickles and all. As soon as this happened, he went to lay down in his room for awhile. We figured it was something he ate, so we wanted to wait and see if he was okay for church. Within 10 minutes, he christened the bathroom downstairs with something I can only describe as "unbearable". I immediately recognized the smell from back in 1994, when I came back from a mission trip only to be hospitalized with campylobacter jejuni - food poisoning! I had just finished cleaning the main bathroom, and now I had to clean the kids' bathroom. After Ben showered, he felt better. We thought it was over. We went to church. Ben threw up in the church bathroom and on the church floor. There were even pickles in the urinal! One of the church members was nice enough to mop up after us. I took Ben home, and he showered in our bathroom. You guessed it, our shower was a victim as well.

I went to choir practice. That same church member asked me if Ben had had pickles last night. He said "I've never seen whole pickles come right back up...or out!" Enough said on that.

Brandon stayed home with Ben, while the girls went to Grandma's. When I got home, Brandon informed me that not only did he deal with cleaning up Ben, and cleaning the bathroom, he also caught the much evasive mouse! And Brandon is known for fearing two things: bodily fluids and mice.

Now we are off to the Christmas program at church. Ben will stay home and someone else will take his line: "You know? I kind of miss old Reuben." Yes, yes, he will.

Fall pictures

Last weekend, we went to a park near Pinkney School and took some fall pictures. I can't believe how much they've grown...and so fast. It's been a week of milestones for Molly. She now has two teeth and is crawling all over the place. She enjoys "walking" along furniture with our help and she has started to share her voice with us a little bit more. Every day brings something new!

Ben's soccer season has ended. He's been practicing his cursive skills and reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Grace has started dancing at Dazzler's Christian Dance. She does a routine to Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head, and although she says she doesn't like that song, she certainly likes to show off her moves. Ben and Grace are practicing for their Christmas program at church, which is quickly approaching.

Brandon is excited that the KU basketball season has begun again, and I've been busy obsessing over the New Moon movie. Pretty much, all is well with the Urban family.

Molly is Mobile!

Molly has been moving around a lot lately. Mostly scooching, army crawling and rolling. Tonight she crawled "for real"... and we got it on video!
Enjoy :)

A Halloween Story

Once upon a time, on a Halloween night in 2009, a devil, an angel, and a lion cub appeared on Sage Brush Drive. They could barely wait until the sun went down to scurry through the neighborhood asking for candy. As the trio moved from house to house, the lion cub fell fast asleep and missed most of the journey. All was well, because the angel and the devil gladly accepted her candy for her. When their bags were full and their feet tired, they returned home to empty the contents of their bags. The angel, doing as only we would expect her to do, quickly sorted her candy into different categories...possibly even alphabetizing them. The devil dumped his bag and began negotiations. Soon, the angel was surrounded by neatly sorted piles of candy, and the devil had only empty wrappers as evidence of his efforts.

And then, when it was time for the angel and the devil to go to sleep, the lion cub awoke....a fitting end to another All Hallows Eve.

Who does this look like?