Little Man

I have so much to catch up on as far as blogging is concerned, but I thought I'd throw these out there just for fun. We had Emma's baptism this last weekend(more to come on that later) and we had so much fun with our families all converging upon us. Eli could not get enough of my sister, Sissa, as she is called by all of my children. He wouldn't let her out of his sight for a second. It was a.dor.able! 

Speaking of adorable, while I think all of my children are pretty cute, I am certain our genes outdid themselves with this last addition. I really can't get enough!

Long time coming

This has been a daily scene in our home just before bath time for months now. Since February to be exact. I did not want to deal with a potty trained toddler in D.C. though and decided to wait until after our trip to get serious about it. After our trip, however, I was hoping he would lose interest because it really is not my favorite thing to potty train in the summer when there are too many distractions(outdoors, extra kids all day, etc.)
So he continued to pee in the potty before bath time and was content with that until today. I was getting him dressed this morning and after I took his diaper off, he ran to the bathroom, put the seat on the toilet and went pee pee all by himself. So we went to Target and picked out Buzz and BeeBee(Woody), Mickey Mouse and other assorted big boy pants. He was so excited, he opened the package in the store and promptly put them on his head. After nap time, we put them on the correct way and went for it. He was awesome! So far today, unders:3 and potty:6. Not bad for a first timer who is still 2 months away from being 2.

Say what?

These are a few of my favorite things Asher said today.

While watching Jurassic Park..."Mom, I wouldn't be scared if a Tyrannosaurus Rex was coming after me...unless he ate me."

While eating dinner..."Mom, these rolls are HEAVEN!"

While snuggling at bedtime..."Mom, you my number one favorite and then second would be Dad. But don't tell Dad...it will be our secret because he would be like...what?"

Have I mentioned how much I love this boy?

Balloon Wreath Tutorial

For this project you will need 4 things.
1. Balloons(I used the large ones-purchased at Hobby Lobby for 3.99 for a package of 72)
2. A straw wreath form-I got mine 1/2 off at Hobby Lobby-about $5.
3. Floral pins-also purchased at Hobby Lobby. I got the large bag for 4.99. I'm not sure how many were in it, but I had a lot left over.
4. Ribbon to hang wreath. I already had some I got at Costco when they have the spools of ribbon early in the year.
I have a very big front door, so I bought the bigger wreath form, but if you have a smaller door, you could get away with a smaller form.  

I wanted my wreath to look very full, so I spaced the balloons and pins no more than 1/2 inch apart.  I used more balloons than was probably necessary, but I love how it turned out.

Buy more balloons than you think you need. I bought three packages thinking that 216 balloons would be plenty. This is how far I got.  I ended up buying eight packages and using a grand total of 576 balloons. Almost 600. My thumbs were sore for a few days.

Almost done...needs just a few more.

I tied the ribbon around the center of the form when I was halfway done with the balloons(after I took the second picture) and secured it with a few pins and then hung it.  It definitely adds color to the front of our house.

The grand total for this project was roughly $42. Not the cheapest. If I had been patient and waited for things to go on sale and used coupons I could have done it for cheaper. I'm just not that patient.

P.S.

As if the last post weren't long enough, I actually forgot a few details Emma might find interesting in the future. 

1-She was very nervous about a loose tooth that she had. She was afraid they would knock it out and it would fall down her throat and be gone forever. Oddly enough, the nurse called the day before and asked(among other questions) if she had any loose teeth.  She's 7 so the odds were fairly high. They simply pulled the tooth after she was under but before they started the surgery. Easy as pie!

2-We forgot to ask before hand if we could have the tonsils and adenoids. When we asked the nurse and doctor in recovery they said no can do. No one was willing to go through the bio hazard bin. Go figure. Someone was really wanting to make slides for his histology course. Bummer.

3-Even bigger bummer was when the Dr. told us her tonsils were covered in concretions. He said they usually find that just in adults who have had years and years of chronic tonsillitis. Those would have made great slides. He also said her adenoids were a size 3+ on a scale of 1-4. She should definitely breathe easier now. Poor girl!

4-There was a boy on the other side of the curtain from her in recovery who was hysterical. It was so distracting that I was tempted to ask the nurse to move him. I think it really upset Emma, but he quickly left. The patient that replaced him was a 70's-ish woman who had foot surgery. We found it amusing that our nurse spoke to a 7 year old and a 70 year in the exact same manner.  Honey, Darling, baby voice, etc.

A little less Emma

Emma lost just a little bit of herself today. But only the part that defined her as a sickly little girl who missed school frequently and made us nervous to breathe on her if we had the slightest indication of a cold. She has battled constant strep infections, pneumonia, bronchitis and tonsillitis for the past few years and we decided enough was enough. She had her tonsils and adenoids removed this morning and although she was extremely nervous, she was remarkably brave.

We headed to the Central Utah surgical center at 6:15 this morning for our 7:45 surgical appointment with Dr. Denys. While we were not impressed with the facilities(the waiting area smelled like a casino-and yes, I understand smokers need medical procedures too. It's just not a smell you want to associate with a sterile environment) the staff was wonderful. 

She was totally unimpressed with the cap and gown situation, but seemed a little appeased by the little lion they gave her.

A quick hug from a very tired and drowsy looking mom and off she went.

About 45 minutes later they called us back to the recovery area where she was waking up rather restlessly. She was peaceful one moment...

and then terrified and trashing about the next. I tried to explain to the nurses that she probably wasn't in pain, but that that is how I wake up from anesthesia as well. They injected something into her IV and when I asked them what they injected, they replied, "morphine" and my heart skipped a beat as I explained to them how deathly allergic to morphine I am.  They promptly administered Zofran to try and combat the impending nausea. 

We took turns comforting her.

And we even got her to eat a popsicle. After this she got ghostly white and refused to eat anymore. The nurse tried to get her to eat jello and pudding, but Emma took a couple of bites and refused any more. They tried a second dose of Zofran and when that didn't work, they gave her a phenergan suppository(which she was just thrilled about) and after all that, she just threw everything up anyway. Then, she was finally able to get some rest and keep her oral medication down long enough to be sent home. 

We left around 11:30, which was about 2 hours longer than they thought she would be there, but she was just glad to be home. She slept on the couch and my mom stayed with her while I ran to the pharmacy. We went to a pharmacy in Saratoga Springs because they make lidocaine lollipops and when I got there they informed me that since it was a special compound, they needed 24 hours notice and I informed them that nobody told me that, otherwise I would have saved the trip and gone to the pharmacy by my house. All the while, Eli is wreaking havoc on the entire place because I had to take him in with me because of their lack of a drive through. Asher is on the other side of the pharmacy yelling to me about the havoc wreaker and to make things even sweeter, insurance doesn't cover these precious little suckers and they are $10 a piece. The script was written for 5. At this point, they are taking pity on me and say they can have them done by 5 and deliver them to my house. I'm feeling kind of bad and then I realize for $50 of suckers, "ya, they can deliver them to my house!" Upon delivery the professor weighs them(because that's what professors do) and figures out that they are running at 547.00 per lb. Now that's a pricey dum dum! I then got a lecture about just what a sucker I am and why didn't I just buy a bottle of chloraseptic and call it a day. "Principle" I tell him. I drove clear out to that stinkin' pharmacy for those suckers and I was not leaving without them. 

You can view said lollipop here.

New projects

Last year the professor bought me a new camera. It has all kinds of fancy settings and what not, but the only one I use is the auto setting. This year I want to change that. I am committing myself to taking at least one picture a day to chronicle our year. Little if no writing will accompany these pics. Writing, story telling and journaling is what this blog is for although it's occasional at best. If you want to follow me in pictures, check it out here.